


The Flavor

by madeboo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Biting, Feeding, M/M, Marking, Non-Graphic Descriptions of Blood, Scent Marking, Scenting, Soulmates, Supernatural - Freeform, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, crude language, feelings of euphoria during feeding, symptoms of nesting, yes chanyeol cries, yes jongdae ends up on his knees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-01-30 11:16:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21427342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeboo/pseuds/madeboo
Summary: Jongdae is still learning to control his hunger as a vampire, but for some reason werewolves make it so damn hard to stay in line. No werewolf in their right mind would be open to helping him learn to control his thirst, right?
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 14
Kudos: 324
Collections: EXO MONSTERFEST 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt T151 for ExoMonsterFest
> 
> Prompter I’m sorry if this isn’t what you envisioned, but thank you for submitting the prompt. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.  
Mod vamp deserves many love bites for running such a big fest.
> 
> Plot holes poked graciously by my own fangs  
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)

It doesn’t take long for gossip to travel among the campus’ wolf population.

“Some bloodsucker named Kim Jongdae requested werewolf blood from the campus health blood bank this morning and was denied because staff deemed it ‘suspicious activity’.Maybe it’s for a ritual of some sort? You can’t blame the staff for being suspicious. Not only do wolves rarely donate blood _for vampire consumption_, but it’s even more rare for a vampire to be able to stomach it, right? I dunno, usually I’m not judgy but that’s a whole new level of abnormal. What do you think Chanyeol? Chanyeol. Yeol. Hey!”

“Mmh?” Chanyeol glances up from the crossword puzzle on his phone to see Baekhyun staring at him expectantly. Baekhyun’s chaotic energy is stronger than usual... Maybe it’s Chanyeol’s imagination. Maybe it’s the way Baekhyun’s hair looks charged with electricity after an impromptu bleach and dye session last night. The shade reminds him of fruit punch. “I think you’re plenty judgy.”

Baekhyun’s hair appears to fluff up in annoyance, deflating when he puffs out the breath he’d been holding while waiting for Chanyeol’s response.

“First of all, I am a shining beacon of kindness and respect—”

“Knock knock I’m coming in!” The door to Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s shared dorm swings open to reveal Sehun. “Have you two heard about the vampire thirsting over wolf blood?”

Baekhyun’s face lights up in recognition that his favorite gossip partner is present. Chanyeol smiles at the scene and shakes his head before giving his attention back to his phone.

“What do you mean thirsting? Isn’t he using it for a ritual? Or maybe a spell? Vampires can’t stand our blood any more than we can stand their brooding,” Baekhyun says, voice laced with confusion.

“That’s not how I heard it. Besides I doubt someone as _young _as him even has experience with transformative magic.” Typical response of a witch like Sehun to be shrewd about other’s magical abilities. “He insisted that it was for consumption, telling some story about how he heard wolf blood helps with migraines. He kept complaining about the migraines interfering with his, and I quote, ‘scholarly pursuits’ and how refusing him wolf blood would be cruel.”

“MIGRAINES?” Baekhyun slaps his knee to release a surge of pent up energy. “I’ve never heard of vampires having mortal ailments that aren’t caused by starvation or magic. How stupid could he be to expect that story to work? How young are we talking here, Sehun… 25? 50 years?”

The smirk on Sehun’s face can be heard in his reply, “10. He’s practically a newborn regardless of his 22 years as a mortal.” Sehun tilts his head, smirk still present, “I have a feeling he’s just… you know... curious.”

Chanyeol huffs and looks up to see Sehun smirk directed at him. “You want one of us to donate to his cause? Is that why you’re here?”

Baekhyun looks offended, opening his mouth to complain.

Sehun raises his hands in surrender and speaks before Baekhyun can get a word in. “I thought I should just pass my two cents along to you guys, being that you’re my only werewolf friends.”

Baekhyun closes his mouth and softens at the word friends.

“Puppy,” Chanyeol subconsciously mutters under his breath, but Baekhyun’s hearing is impeccable.

“Am not! You take that back! I’m just appreciating Sehun’s company since you’re too busy working on your _boring _puzzles.” Baekhyun’s pouty face urges Chanyeol’s brain to repeat himself, but he remains in control.

“You can handle a little honesty, Baek.”

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

“Are. You. Kidding me?” Junmyeon looks incredulous. Better than looking disappointed, Jongdae supposes.

Jongdae can’t hide the whine in his voice, “I had a lapse in judgement Myeonnie! A group of werewolves were in the study room next to mine all night in the library. It seemed like a good exercise for my self-control...”

“Until it didn’t and you bolted to the blood service counter begging for something you know damn well they wouldn’t give you. Migraines. I can’t believe you tried to sell them on _migraines_. Asking for blood of historical enemies is a bad look. I hope the faculty don’t hear about this and ask me what’s wrong with you. You’re lucky Sehun was there to diffuse the situation.”

_Ugh. Sehun. _That witch has dirt on everybody. No wonder the staff and student body don’t challenge him. Sehun barely gave the people behind the blood service counter a look before they pretended like nothing happened and waited for Sehun to leave with Jongdae.

“Yeah, yeah. Lucky. Everything he does is _lucky_. I’m beginning to suspect he’s more than a witch.”

Junmyeon’s nervous laughter says more than the “Nonsense, Dae~” he replies with. Jongdae hopes that after he has hundreds of years to practice his poker face, he’ll be better at lying than Junmyeon is.

“Ah, speak of the devil.” Jongdae catches Sehun’s pitch-colored hair making it’s way towards them. He’s wearing a soul-sucking black from head-to-toe _and _his signature smirk. Even from a distance Jongdae can see the telling hairs that cling to Sehun’s attire. _Wolf fur_.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

“Funny how you nearly threw up in your mouth at the mention of sparing some blood for a vampire, but still took the vamp’s schedule from Sehun yesterday,” Chanyeol nags Baekhyun. “Maybe I should have Sehun come by to tell you to start cleaning your dishes so they stop piling up on your desk. Hell, all he does is run a hand through his hair and you become putty.”

Baekhyun punches Chanyeol’s bicep with one hand, then slaps it with the other for good measure.

“Sorry I have good taste!” Baekhyun replies. “Besides I wanted to get a look at this kid and see if my radar goes off. You know, the one that tells me to shift and start barking. My THAT’S A BAD MAN radar. I’m looking out for the pack. Now shut up and help me find this classroom, we’ve been circling this same floor for 10 minutes too long.”

“Uh-huh, _sure_,” Chanyeol squints teasingly at Baekhyun, “and we’re only circling because the class is in the West wing of floor two and we’re in the East wing of floor three.”

Baekhyun lifts a fist to punch Chanyeol’s arm again but ends up dropping it and whining.

“Why am I so bad with directions? The Moon Goddess must’ve realized I needed a shortcoming after blessing me with these looks.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes as he guides them to the right location.

“Hopefully this guy didn’t skip. It’s his only class today and I’m too busy to help you stalk him down tomorrow, Baek.”

“Shush it sounds like their class is wrapping up. Look chill.” Baekhyun rushes out pushing Chanyeol into the wall across from the classroom before running in circles a couple times to decide what to do with himself. Baekhyun ends up halfway down the hall, crouched near a drinking fountain pretending to tie his shoes.

Chanyeol scoffs. _Look chill._

The classroom door swings open and students slowly begin to flood out. One student is courteous enough to place the door stopper down. Chanyeol can see above most the students into the classroom and notices only a few stragglers still packing up their laptops and chatting with each other.

Shifting his body a step to the right enables him to get a better look at the front podium where the professor has a small line of students waiting to talk to him. Chanyeol furrows his eyebrows in concentration, noticing the characteristic pallor of the student currently speaking to the professor.

_Bingo_.

Chanyeol looks over to check on Baekhyun, seeing his friend still crouched over a double-knotted sneaker. He clears his throat in hopes to get Baek’s attention and it works.

Baekhyun looks up to Chanyeol motioning him to come closer to the class, but the sight of Chanyeol is blocked out as a student who walked out of the class stands in front of Baekhyun.

“Whoa, are those legit?” the student points at Baekhyun’s chrome sneakers. Chanyeol can’t catch the rest of what the student is saying with them speaking too fast in a hall of shuffling feet.

He can barely see Baekhyun’s expression around the student who intercepted him, but the passion in his eyes tells Chanyeol they’re speaking about shoes. _Of course._

How did he get roped into helping Baekhyun with this ridiculous request? Chanyeol wants to growl in annoyance but stops himself because he sees a pale face flash inside the door from the corner of his eye.

Chanyeol bristles and holds still. Even without turning his head, Chanyeol can tell he’s being stared at. A few feet inside the class stands the vampire Baekhyun came to scope out.

Tables? _Turned_.

Suddenly feeling wholly out of place, Chanyeol wishes werewolves had the power to teleport at will. Maybe Sehun can hook him up with a spell. His heart thuds audibly against his ribs and only beats faster when he realizes if he can hear the beat then it must be deafening to a blood-hungry immortal. He bares a neutral face and gathers the courage to rotate so his back is leaning against the wall before he makes eye contact with the vampire. _Look chill._

But seeing the vampire instantly makes Chanyeol feel anything but chill when they meet eyes.

Jongdae has an ethereal beauty that all vampires are reborn with, but the pretty curve of his defined jaw is tense. He has his backpack slung over one shoulder and is gripping the strap so tightly his knuckles manage to turn white against his already paper pale hands. Chanyeol notices a slight vibration to Jongdae’s chest as if he’s fighting against breathing. His red eyes darken in warning, but Chanyeol can’t look away.

_Is he okay? Upset? Does he know why I’m here?_ _Does he know that I know?_

Chanyeol can barely think straight with the way Jongdae’s stare bores into his soul.

_Why is he looking at me like that?_

One moment the door is open, the next it is closed.

_Did he just shut the door on me?_

Chanyeol takes the opportunity to power walk down the hall to where Baekhyun is still chatting animatedly with the stranger about sneakers.

“We should go.” Chanyeol places a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder to grab his attention. “Now, preferably.”

The stranger mutters something about “catch you later” and Baekhyun writes his phone number on the back of the stranger’s hand before they laugh nervously and amble out of sight.

“What? Why? I haven’t even seen him.” Baekhyun stops waving to his new friend when they disappear and pouts at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol lowers his voice in the loud hallway. “I don’t think he wants to be seen Baek, besides I doubt he takes kindly to wolves bothering him. This plan wasn’t exactly thought out.”

“Whatever I’m going over there to at least look.” Baekhyun is poorly concealing a whine and taps the ground with his toe. “I didn’t waste all that time traveling across campus for nothing. I’ll pretend I’m lost or something— shouldn’t be a challenge because for the most part I _am_ lost. I need to do this _for the pack._”

Chanyeol can’t get another word in before Baekhyun roams back to the closed classroom door. Just as Baekhyun leans in to open the door it crashes swiftly into him.

“Owwie!” Baekhyun yips.

A string of stuttered apologies follows from the mouth of none other than Kim Jongdae, and he even lifts a hand to hold Baekhyun’s head where the door connected with his skull. Jongdae’s brooding atmosphere vanishes for Baekhyun, and his now non-menacing, brick-colored eyes shine with guilt.

Chanyeol can’t believe the sight unfolding in front of him. Are there two of them? No way in Hell is the guy who shut the door on Chanyeol the same as the distraught one here.

“I know I put a lot of strength into that, I have to learn to control it better. Are you sure you’re not feeling dizzy? You don’t need medical attention?” Jongdae’s eyebrows are downturned in genuine concern, running his fingers along Baekhyun head to check for damage.

_Was the strength comment a flex? Is he flirting with Baek?_

“Just keep petting me like that and I’ll heal in no time!” Baekhyun smiles, eyes more glossy than normal. Jongdae’s hands fly down straight to his sides. “I’m Byun Baekhyun by the way.”

Chanyeol doesn’t notice his own nails making crescent shapes in his palm from tightening his fist.

If Jongdae could blush, he would be red from the neck up.

“I—” Jongdae shifts his gaze in Chanyeol’s direction to avoid looking at Baekhyun and ends up more frantic.

The distress in Jongdae’s eyes stirs mirrored feelings deep in Chanyeol’s gut. But the distress Chanyeol feels is over realizing he’s getting angry with Baekhyun. Like he needs to stand between them with the intention of protecting the should-be enemy rather than his best friend. _What the fuck?_

Against Chanyeol’s will, his legs carry him forward a few steps before he registers that he is moving. The movement gets his friend’s attention off Jongdae’s fidgeting, and Baekhyun’s fluffy red hair curls up in confusion at Chanyeol’s wide-eyed expression and bow-legs frozen mid-step.

“Oh! Chanyeol! Hey! What are you doing here? You look… just as lost as I feel ahaha?” Baekhyun winks a moment too long and gives him a meaningful look. “Why don’t you come on over here?”

Jongdae speaks before Chanyeol can move. “Okay well if you’re sure you’re doing alright I’ll be going—”

Baekhyun instinctively grabs the vampire’s forearm to hold him in place. “Stay. You didn’t even tell me your name.”

The added hand is disturbing Chanyeol. _Don’t stare. Don’t glare. Don’t bark at their contact Park Chanyeol._ He shakes his head to rattle the strange thoughts out.

Chanyeol resumes his stuttered steps while Jongdae is distracted with the puppy eyes and protruding lower lip Baekhyun is hitting him with. When he gets close enough he addresses Baekhyun. “Yeah I scented you in the area. I was just looking for you, knowing how quick you are to get lost hah.”

Some of the tension in Jongdae’s shoulders disappears and his fists relax. _Huh, he fell for it._

Baekhyun’s eyebrow twitches in distaste with Chanyeol’s wording, but continues to play along. “You know me _soooo _well. Anyway, I’m sure I would’ve gotten help from… I’m sorry, _what _is your name?” Baekhyun looks directly at the vampire.

“I, uh, Jongdae. Kim Jongdae.”

“See? Jongdae would’ve helped me,” Baekhyun says with barely a glance at Chanyeol, his hand still wrapped about the vampire’s arm.

“Hmn.” Chanyeol narrows his eyes, trying not to clench his jaw. “Since you’re taken care of I’ll just meet you back at the dorm later. See ya.”

Chanyeol gives a curt wave and a nod before turning on his heel to head out of the building. He knows it’s uncharacteristic of him to be so short and rude, but it was either that or snap at Baekhyun. And snapping at Baekhyun would raise some questionable flags he’s not ready to deal with.

“Damn, what’s his deal?” Baekhyun mutters under his breath before giving Jongdae his full attention.The attention isn’t returned with how Jongdae’s pupils are focused intently on Chanyeol’s retreating figure. Baekhyun clears his throat and places his other hand on Jongdae’s arm to fully encircle it. “There’s supposed to be a new coffee shop in this area. Mind helping me find it?”

Jongdae’s eyes slowly slide their focus onto Baekhyun. “Sure, I walk by it on my way home. It’ll be good to, uh, monitor you so I can make sure you don’t pass out after receiving that beating from the door.”

“Figures,” Baekhyun laughs, releasing his hold on Jongdae to run a palm over the sore spot on his head. “I assume you won’t be able to drink anything there, unless the cafe has special coffee-flavored blood,” Baekhyun’s face looks a little grossed out by the idea but he keeps a smile on. “You’ll just have to fill up on watching me. Lead the way—”

“What do you mean?” Jongdae has a guarded look in his eye.

“Uh like seeing me eat and drink will be as if you’re eating and drinking?” Baekhyun wants to kick himself for being careless with his wording. “I know you wouldn’t actually fill up on me heh. You seem too polite to go for a neck like mine. Especially with me being a wolf and all. Hah.”

“Oh. Right.” Jongdae frowns for a split second then his mouth twitches up into a soft grin. “Let’s go.”

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

People actively keep their distance as Chanyeol storms across campus back to the dorm. He doesn’t want to unpack his weird wolf feelings, he just wants to lay down in bed and listen to Radiohead for a couple hours.

And that’s exactly what he does.

But even after a couple hours of Radiohead and a short nap later, his brain implores him to think about his feelings while he lays in bed.

“Fine! Fine.” Chanyeol says aloud to the ceiling.

_I’m a foolish werewolf crushing on a no good vampire. Considering I wanted to bite Baekhyun’s hand off of Jongdae’s arm, I’m feeling entirely too possessive of someone I DO NOT know. Worst of all is that they clearly didn’t like me and likely sees me as a weirdo._

Chanyeol kicks his legs and flips over onto his stomach to shout some expletives at himself into the pillow for being annoying.

_Baek better hurry up. The only werewolf blood Jongdae should taste is my own._

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

“Hey hey! I’m back! And I got you something to drink.”

Baekhyun lightly kicks the dorm door closed since his left hand is occupied with a cup and the rest of his body and mind are occupied with his phone. His floofy red hair hides most of his face with his head tilted down at the phone, but Chanyeol can still see a goofy smile on his roommate’s lips.

Chanyeol feels the recurring urge to bark at Baekhyun. _He’s probably texting Jongdae._

Baekhyun gets close enough to where Chanyeol is sitting up in bed to hand off the drink and it takes a lot of effort for Chanyeol to not snatch it out of his hands. He inspects the drink and one sniff tells him it’s a chai latte. _Okay maybe Baekhyun isn’t so terrible._

“Thanks,” Chanyeol mumbles, “so are you messaging your new boyfriend or…?”

Baekhyun doesn’t look up but his smiles twitches in recognition of the irritated undertones in his friend’s voice.

“Silly wolf. Sehun hasn’t asked me out yet. I’m chatting with the guy from earlier who wanted to know how I got my shoes. Turns out some people on this campus have refined interests like I do.” Baekhyun pauses to type out another message on his phone. “You sound jealous. Threw a fit right in front of my new vampire friend for no good reason. Care to explain why you played up the werewolf stereotype?”

Baekhyun finally, _finally_ looks up to properly acknowledge Chanyeol glaring at him from behind the latte. Quirking up an eyebrow, the goofy smile evolves into a grin akin to the kind Sehun sports. The mimicry might even be cute to Chanyeol if the grin wasn’t currently directed at himself.

An obnoxiously loud and long sip is the reply Baekhyun gets before Chanyeol feels calm enough to say, “Are you going to let the bloodsucker have a taste of you or what?” Very clearly avoiding a straight answer.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Don’t tell me that’s why you’re mad. Aren’t you supposed to be Mr. Kumbaya? We didn’t even talk about it. Though Sehun was on track when he said it was curiosity.” He crosses his arms in thought. “It must be, because he was _very _clearly scenting the air and got jittery anytime another wolf was within proximity. We ran into Minseok on our way to the cafe and I saw Jongdae actually _lick _his lips from the corner of my eye. To be fair Minseok just came from a pack run and even made me a little excited, but I’ve never seen a vampire react like that.”

Chanyeol imagines Minseok’s bass-boosted post-run nutmeg and clove scent and nods in understanding while he digests the new information.

“Speaking of that run in,” Baekhyun continues, “Minnie says he’s the one in charge of our next pack barbeque and to text him any ideas for food and decorations we’d like to see. I think he—”

“Baek.” Chanyeol interrupts, not interested in hearing about a pack meet up. “Jongdae. Tell me about Jongdae.”

The red fluff of hair falls to one side as Baekhyun tilts his head, sniffs the air, and squints at Chanyeol. “You’re being seriously weird. I thought you didn’t care. He’s not very talkative and you know I’ve always got a lot to say. Are you actually mad? You’re not bitching at me with your usual banter.”

Baekhyun’s eyes shine with understanding and he takes the half-finished drink out of Chanyeol’s hands, placing it on the nightstand along with his own phone. Chanyeol braces himself.

“Baekhyun, please, you don’t have to.”

The words go ignored and Baekhyun leaps over Chanyeol to sit next to him on the twin-sized bed. Baekhyun keeps Chanyeol’s arms pressed to his sides as he reaches one of his own around the taller to hold him tight and lifts his other arm to place a hand in Chanyeol’s hair. Chanyeol closes his eyes and doesn’t bother putting up a fight.

The hand in his hair begins it’s calming magic. The fingers running through Chanyeol’s dark curls are also combing through the stress in the air, untangling the knot in Chanyeol’s stomach.

“Keeping secrets isn’t either of our strengths,” Baekhyun says, “I’ll give you a moment, but you’ll need to spill whatever is on your mind. I won’t be able to sleep with the room smelling so strongly of your distress. ”

Chanyeol frowns and takes a moment to properly scent the air and see what clued Baekhyun in and _Damn the whole room is brewing with my gross feelings since I came in here with a bad attitude earlier, no wonder… wait. What’s that?_

There is a distinctly new scent on Baekhyun and Chanyeol twists in his hold to sort out the layers of the faint fragrance still clinging to his friend. Nosing along Baekhyun’s right arm he picks out scents of wet stone and earth, and smelling his hair redefines the underlying scent as rain? Petrichor? It’s not potent enough for him to know for sure. It’s soothing even if his wolf brain is telling him the scent doesn’t belong on Baekhyun. The more Chanyeol sniffs around, the more the smell fades away and turns into his own.

Chanyeol makes a noise of disappointment. Partly because the smell was gone and partly because he has a suspicion of who it came from. Chanyeol stops invading Baekhyun’s stock-still body and sees a glint of pity in his eyes.

Not wanting to see the expressions Baekhyun is bound to make during this conversation, Chanyeol repositions himself so he’s lying in his lap with his head facing away from Baekhyun. Baekhyun puts one hand on Chanyeol’s back for comfort and the other goes back into his mess of hair to continue its job.

“I’m gonna guess Jongdae walked to the right of you,” Chanyeol sighs.

“That he did.”

“Tell me you didn’t run your mouth the whole time, and that you at least learned one useful thing about him.”

Baekhyun leans his head back against the headboard trying to come up with a condensed version of the useful information he retained on the vampire. His phone keeps lighting up on the nightstand with notifications but they can wait.

“He was a student on this campus before his Change. He wasn’t supposed to be turned. Some bloodsucker didn’t finish the job and Professor Kim— you’ve probably seen the guy around with Sehun, he looks like a royal and dresses like he’s still living in the past— found Jongdae and turned him in a panic. Usually the Change is planned, but being so sudden neither Jongdae nor Junmyeon were prepared for it, and he ended up attacking a student the same night.

“Jongdae dropped out because his bloodlust was uncontrollable most of the time. It took the poor guy 10 years to reintegrate into society. He was in his last year of undergrad here when it happened and now he has to start all over this year. Too much changed in the curriculum over the decade. Mega sucky.”

Sehun’s vampire-professor-friend sired him? Chanyeol needs time to think about the odds later. “Damn you really got the details. Did they ever catch the fucker who attacked him in the first place?”

“Nope,” Baekhyun enunciates with a pop. “There weren’t even any similar attacks that year. Just a bloodsucker passing through town and picking an easy target. They were probably long gone before Professor Kim got to him.”

A few beats of comfortable silence pass before Chanyeol asks, “Is he nice?”

Baekhyun can’t stop the soft chuckle that escapes him. “Yep. Not a single bad man vibe. I deem him to be safe and worthy of being in the presence of my pack. Only real complaint is that he was fidgeting so much that it broke my train of thought too many times when I was telling him about how awesome and funny and interesting I am.”

“That’s. Good. Did you… maybe...talk about me?”

“I— Sorry Chanyeol, I really only apologized for your off behavior. I told him you were having a bad day and he said he understood and told me he was having an off day too. If I had known you—”

“Ah, don’t say it aloud!” Chanyeol’s ears turn pink.

“You didn’t,” Baekhyun pauses to inhale, “imprint did you?”

Chanyeol shoots up, sending Baekhyun’s hands off him. “No! I don’t even believe in that anymore! It’s a terribly magnified crush that my wolf latched onto and now… now I’m feeling many things I don’t want to define. Please don’t tell him.” His eyes send a pleading look to Baekhyun, and Baek looks at him like he’s said something dumb.

“I have no reason to tell him anything, it’s okay Chanyeol. If he can be obsessed over wolf blood then you’re allowed to have an unconventional interest in him as well— if that’s what you think it is. Honestly it’s better that you don’t hate him like I originally thought because I invited him to come over this weekend and play Smash with me. I don’t know how we got on the topic but he’s never played on a Switch. Can you believe his last contact with a console before he went all vampire sicko mode was a Wii? Not even a Wii U. A Wii. _Tragic._”

Chanyeol didn’t hear a word after “weekend”.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SOONER? I NEED TO START CLEANING!”

~~

The weekend creeps up on Chanyeol, but he’s tidied up so much that their dorm hardly looks lived in anymore.

Irrespective of Baekhyun’s assurance that Jongdae is _down to Earth Yeollie_ and _won’t mind the fur_ that clings to every surface in their room, Chanyeol is on his hands and knees with a lint roller. It’s the third one he’s had to unpackage.

He never noticed before that they shed their fluff everywhere, but now it’s all he sees. Jongdae has enhanced vision fit for an immortal predator. He’ll probably be able to see every dust mote in the air. No need to add free-floating fur to the mix.

“Seriously, Yeol. I’ve never seen you so eager. You’re always the more put-together one out of us two. He’s supposed to be here in an hour. You need to relax on the nesting and be more worried about our trash can full of torn off lint roller sheets _and _the fact you haven’t showered yet.”

That’s the third time Baekhyun has brought up _nesting_. Chanyeol knows Baek is looking for a reaction but he won’t give him the satisfaction. Baekhyun gives up on trying to see Chanyeol wail about his urges to clean and declutter. _So what_ if he wants to impress and make way for Jongdae? He’s not going to deny his wolf’s urges when they’re this productive.

Baek gets back to setting up his Switch to connect to his oversized desktop monitor. For someone so lax about how their dorm looks, Baekhyun is surprisingly attentive to his consoles and tech, making sure every wire is properly wrapped and kept neat. Baek has no business speaking about his best friend’s new stress relieving activities when he dusts the surfaces of anything with a cord weekly.

Chanyeol internally groans at the thought of having to take the trip downstairs to throw out the trash he’s been compiling the past couple days while he furiously cleaned. If he can finish off this last lint roller he’ll be satisfied enough to wrap up and take out the trash.

What Chanyeol thought would only take 10 more minutes ends up taking half an hour. He gets Baekhyun to help him bring out the trash so he doesn’t have to make another trip down, but it still sets him back _another _10 minutes.

With 20 minutes left until Jongdae shows up, Chanyeol knows he’ll have to rush. He lays out an outfit on his bed; can’t go wrong with a white t-shirt and jeans. Then it’s a mad dash into the bathroom attached to their dorm room.

Chanyeol pairs his phone to a speaker so he can listen to a playlist of songs he’s memorized the lyrics to. Nothing calms his nerves like some good old-fashioned singing in the shower.

Scrubbing away all the grime he accumulated feels so nice. He spends extra time exfoliating with one of Baekhyun’s bath products. Hopefully Baekhyun understands and doesn’t mind that he didn’t ask in advance.

He steps out of the shower humming along to Billie Eilish while he wraps a towel around his waist. Eyeing the hair dryer on the counter, Chanyeol debates spending the extra minute to make it less obvious that he took a shower right before Jongdae shows. Give the illusion that he is clean and smells like brown sugar honey body scrub all the time.

“Eh, it’ll just take a minute,” Chanyeol reasons with himself.

The heat of the dryer feels great until it begins to dry up his skin too.

“Damn.” _Lotion lotion lotion. _Where does Baek keep the good stuff? Chanyeol goes through a drawer of more products until he finds what he’s looking for. “A-ha! Wh- Empty? Who the Hell keeps empty body butter containers?”

Chanyeol flings the bathroom door open to see if the genius who left a decoy jar behind is hiding another jar of the prized moisturizer around somewhere.

“Byun Baekhyun! I know you have more of this stuff, so don’t pretend like— holy shit!” He squeaks, “You!”

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Jongdae has been pacing around outside Baekhyun’s dormitory building for nearly 30 minutes. As usual he was more concerned about being late than arriving stupid early. He’s got another 30 minutes to kill until the time Baek said he’d meet Jongdae outside to let him in.

He’s starting to get more curious looks than he’s comfortable with as time goes on. He only makes it another 10 minutes before giving in.

“Fuck it.”

Pulling out his phone, Jongdae sends a text to Baekhyun to alert him that he’s here. A few minutes later Baekhyun’s <strike>devious</strike> sweet smiling face invites Jongdae in to get checked-in as a guest.

“Ya just couldn’t wait to see me again, huh?” Baekhyun passes the elevators and heads towards the stairs.

“N-no I’m not trying to be weird, I swear. I hate being late is all.” Jongdae waves his hands back and forth in denial. “Is the elevator out?”

Baekhyun laughs.

“Nah. I’m competitive and want to race you up the stairs. Besides there’s no point using the elevator to get to the third floor when you have quick legs like mine.”

Jongdae’s eyes glimmer a brighter red at the mention of a challenge. Baekhyun seems like less of a werewolf and more like the dog he never had. Jongdae places a hand over his chest as if he’s scandalized. “You don’t think a puppy like you could beat a reborn hunter like me, do you?”

Baekhyun winks and starts for the stairs, hair flying back and creating a ruby target to focus on. Jongdae lets his hunting instincts kick in and he speeds after Baekhyun. Jongdae leaps ahead of Baekhyun on the last flight of stairs and reaches the top a second before Baekhyun does.

“Hey! That didn’t count! You jumped over that flight when you were supposed to run.” Baekhyun is taking slow heaving breaths purposely, not wanting to show just how much he exerted himself to keep up.

“Cheating only counts when I do it? You had no problem getting a head start.” Jongdae grins and teasingly taps Baekhyun with an elbow before patting his back.

They continue their playful jabs all the way to the dorm room.

“This is it.” Baekhyun turns a knob and enters an eerily pristine room. Jongdae follows him inside and hears a shower running from behind a door to his left. There’s a deep voice singing along to a song Jongdae has never heard of and he reflexively gasps in recognition of the sound.

Gasping = breathing = smelling =

_Big mistake. _

The tantalizing scent he came in contact with the day he met Baekhyun is all over this room and it suddenly clicks in head that the boy who produces it wasn’t just Baekhyun’s best friend but his roommate. He closes his eyes and pleads with himself.

_Stop breathing stop breathing stop breathing control yourself Jongdae. Inhale again and you’ll out yourself to a werewolf. Don’t embarrass yourself like this. _

He’s unsure what’s louder in his head. His pleading with himself or the voice telling him how close the person he needs is. He always gets the urge to take when he’s around wolves but not like this. Baekhyun’s scent reminds him that wolf blood smells nice but the roommates scent bombards him with more desires than could possibly act on at once.

Baekhyun’s eyes widen at the mental battle the vampire is clearly having. He wonders if Jongdae is aware of how much his chest shakes when he fights the hunter instinct to use his sense of smell in a situation like this. The wolf looks away to give Jongdae some semblance of privacy. Seems like a good time to power everything up to game.

When Jongdae opens his eyes he sees Baekhyun is too occupied with the Switch to notice him struggle. Jongdae takes a moment to get a proper look around at his surroundings to collect himself via much needed distraction.

There’s a lot less fur in here than he would’ve expected for a couple werewolves. At least his clothes will be easy to clean so Junmyeon won’t interrogate him about his whereabouts. If he’s lucky, Junmyeon will be too busy writing exam questions to bother him this weekend entirely.

It takes a lot of effort to ignore the singing in the adjoining bathroom and focus on the noises of Baek starting up Smash. He continues his scan of the room, judging the lack of personal effects for him to examine, until his eyes fall upon an outfit that’s been laid out on the bed opposite of Baekhyun’s desk.

_Those are underwear._

“Uhhh does your roommate know that I’m coming here today?”

“I might’ve mentioned it. Why?”

“I’m just making conversation,” Jongdae says, “I don’t want to step on any toes. I especially don’t want to be the _new _friend who pisses off the _best _friend.”

Baekhyun laughs and the shower stops running.

“He’s chill. Don’t worry. Pull up a chair and get ready to have your pale ass handed to you.”

“Not sure someone who makes their dorm look like a model show home could be described as chill, but I guess I have no choice but to trust you.” Jongdae pulls the seat over from the immaculate desk opposite of Baekhyun’s and grabs the controller Baekhyun offers him.

They get a couple rounds in before grumbling noises start coming from the bathroom rather than happy hums. The sound of cabinets and drawers being opened and closed and product bottles knocking against each other ends up too distracting for the both of them to start the next battle.

Jongdae turns to Baekhyun to ask if his roommate is okay, but he hardly forms a syllable when the bathroom door is flung open, allowing the trapped steam inside to unfurl around the half-naked hunk.

Jongdae’s eyes flit quickly all over the long body but his mind processes the sight in slow motion. Smooth golden skin is on generous display, tinted pink in areas that were scrubbed too hard. The thin towel weighed down with water on defined hips, paired with broad shoulders and toned muscle characteristic of a swimmer’s body, inspires equal parts awe and envy in Jongdae. The boy’s curly hair is extra fluffy from being treated inexpertly with a hair dryer. _Christ._ If “ideal type” is in the dictionary then a photo of Mr. Big-n-Wet would be pictured as an example.

There is no helping how the vampire’s jaw drops and gums tingle with a familiar ache at the sight.

He recognizes the wolf he almost flug himself at earlier this week when he met Baekhyun. _Why did he wear all those layers before if this is what’s underneath? If I breathe right now it’s all over._

Tall Dreamboat is clutching a plastic jar and looks severely displeased, poised for complaint. “Byun Baekhyun! I know you have more of this stuff, so don’t pretend like— holy shit! You!”

Chanyeol’s eyes flit back and forth between Jongdae and Baekhyun, mouth opening and closing without producing a sound, red flush spreading from his ears down to his torso. The visual makes Jongdae’s gums pound. Instincts whispering to _just have a nibble Jongdae, one teeny bite_. He isn’t breathing but his brain supplies him with how the air would taste.

The next noise out of Chanyeol’s mouth is a deep whine. He tears his eyes off the two boys long enough to see his clothes on the other side of the room. There’s no way he’s passing by Jongdae in nothing but a towel without risking passing away from heart failure.

Jongdae barely blinks twice before the bathroom door is slammed shut and the eye candy is hidden away. Jongdae can’t make up his mind whether he’s relieved or upset over the loss. Either way, his fangs have begun to prematurely elongate. Not cool.

Baekhyun muffles a laugh behind a fist, and is already collecting his roommate’s clothes by the time Chanyeol demands Baekhyun to do him the favor. Baekhyun pulls out a box from under his bed to grab a jar similar to the one Chanyeol was holding moments ago. He stands up and pushes the box back under with his foot then walks to the bathroom door.

“Open up.”

“Hell no. You come in.”

Baekhyun turns to give Jongdae an apologetic look before entering the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a second.”

Jongdae wants to listen in on their hushed conversation behind the door, but the voice that he hears is Junmyeon’s instead, nagging him about how impolite it is eavesdrop just because you can. Jongdae clicks his teeth together by biting down repeatedly. It produces a noise in his head loud enough to distract from the conversation he shouldn’t intrude on; a useful trick Junmyeon taught him a few years into his new life, albeit a little uncomfortable with the current state of his needy fangs. The discomfort gradually causes them to retract to normal.

Baekhyun eventually emerges from the bathroom shirtless, smile doing next to nothing to conceal the concern in his eyes. Jongdae wonders if he should even bother trying to understand werewolves’ antics. He’d be better off spending the brain power on figuring out why Baekhyun wears loose fitting clothes when he sports broad shoulders and a slim waist like Tall Dreamboat. Maybe this is normal for a werewolf physique and he’s just never noticed. Too preoccupied with wanting to feed.

“Don’t ask,” Baekhyun warns, “let me grab a new shirt and we can get back to me beating you.”

Jongdae doesn’t know how to respond normally to this abnormal situation, so his vampire brain chooses to flirt. “Your body is more impressive than your combos. If you leave it off, you might have a chance at winning.”

“Umm?” Baek looks as surprised as Jongdae feels. Offhanded seduction is an instinct he doubts he’ll have control over any time this century.

“Please forget I said that. It’s my fault for not having a snack before I got here.”

_Lie._ He did have a snack before heading over, but a snack means nothing to his inner predator acknowledging the most mouthwatering meal a few meters away behind a wooden door that doesn’t stand a chance against his strength.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Baekhyun turns his surprise to a dresser and opens a drawer to rummage through shirts. He picks out something that is three sizes too big. Pity.

“The hungrier I get, the more time I spend trying to convince people to become my meal. Apparently that’s done most effectively if the meal is attracted to me. Therefore, uncalled for comments. It’s an evolutionary quirk.” Jongdae stares down at his hands and considers the likelihood of his newest acquaintance telling him to fuck off.

Baekhyun responds with a laugh, red hair mussed from tugging on the new t-shirt.

“Wow, and all this time I thought vampires said weird shit because they were chronically horny or at least chronically romantic by the time they made it to 100.”

Jongdae’s face screws up in thought. “Actually, I’d say that’s pretty accurate too.” Junmyeon has been in the chronically romantic stage of his immortality for as long as Jongdae has known him, but according to Sehun he was hardly the romantic when he was younger. Maybe after years of feeding, the bloodlust fades because you become preoccupied with settling down instead.

“I’ve experienced being hangry before, it’s a common werewolf emotion, but being horngry?” Baekhyun seats himself next to Jongdae and grins. “That’s got to be unique to your kind.”

The comment is so stupid that Jongdae has to laugh. Laughing helps him void some of the guilt and embarrassment from opening his mouth in the first place. He hates being so young in vampire years, but there's no getting around it. He has to remind himself that the longer he waits to re-integrate himself, the longer it will take him to control his supernatural quirks.

Jongdae raises a hand to shove at Baekhyun teasingly and come up with something vastly more witty to say in response, but the bathroom door opens to reveal a still-flushed Chanyeol and Jongdae realizes too late that the laughing is allowing him to taste the hot spun-sugar scent in the air. The vampire's shove turns into clutching Baekhyun's shoulder and shaking it with light force from the laughter he has to stifle. He has to stop before he does something he regrets.

Both wolves have their eyes trained on where Jongdae's fingers are pressed into the soft cotton of Baek's shirt to keep himself grounded. Baek looks like he's been caught while Chanyeol looks betrayed. And that's when it hits him.

He's heard of werewolves being territorial, but he always imagined that they got possessive over material items and land. Not friends. Unless… they’re more than that.

Jongdae recoils his arm quickly as if he were burned and begins to formulate an apology for being insensitive to wolf culture and an overall bother.

There's pain in Chanyeol's eyes when he manages to mutter out "I'm, uh, g- uh bye," before he's gone again, but this time he disappears behind the door that leads to the hallway.

The face Baek is making makes it clear that he wants to go after him, but he doesn't move.

Unbeknownst to Jongdae, he's making a similar face.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Chanyeol has never known himself to be so temperamental, but the bloodsucker brings out this side of him. Maybe it's not fair to blame him. Even though Chanyeol technically wouldn't feel this way if it weren't for him.

Chanyeol spent so much time with his face in Baek’s shirt to soak in more of the vampire’s scent to calm himself before it faded. And it was all for nothing. One look at Jongdae with his graceful little hand where it shouldn't be sent him spiraling all over again. Stupid wolf brain. If he had the foresight to chill the fuck out by keeping his eyes closed for the rest of forever, then he could be close enough to Jongdae to scent him for real.

He paces the hall a couple times. Not helping. He goes downstairs to exit the dormitory and get fresh air. The hall is getting too clouded with his bad attitude. His phone vibrates in his pocket with an incoming message. He doesn't bother to check it. It's not like he's prepared to respond without sounding like an ass right now.

Maybe he should've just stayed in the bathroom. Turned up the music so he couldn't hear the flirty banter that urged him to leave the safety of the remaining humidity from the shower. He knows Baekhyun isn't interested in Jongdae but his wolf half won't quiet down about how his friend is trying to steal _his _immortal away.

He finds a bench to sit on and brainstorms excuses to give for why he left like that. All Chanyeol really wants to do is go back up there. The best he can come up with centers on the conversation between Baek and Jongdae that keeps replaying in his head. He can say he was... _hangry_.

The vibrating has continued in a steady stream of texts and the sensation is beginning to irritate Chanyeol more than the idea of reading the messages. He pulls out the phone and begins reading.

___________

Baekhyunnie:

U fool

U giant fool

Come back here

PLZ

HE'S TRYING TO LEAVE

YOU HAFTA COME BACK HE THINKS HE DID SOMETHING WRONG

I'm having to stop myself from leaving too

Do you know how hard it is to not chase after you and comfort you

My wolf is stressin

Help me come up with a reason for you running off :(((((

One that will help him stay so you can come back and meet him properly

plz

plz

P l e a s e

I know u wanna

**leave me alooooonnnneee. let my wolf be jealous in peace.**

**tell him i'm**

**fuck idk**

**tell him i'm **hangry****

Baekhyunnie:

Yeollie~♡♡ u replied!

wtf do u mean hangry

were you listening in on our conversation?

that's something i would do...

yeol srsly u gotta come back he looks like he'll cry

**let me at least pick up some food to make it more believable**

**but**

**i still don't know if i'll be able to stay around you two**

**i’m in a mood**

**want anything from the convenience store?**

Baekhyunnie:

gimbap! and a cream bun!

i'll find a way for us to do something where you sit together 😏

maybe a movie

just

bro plz stay when u come back

and hurry???

**yeah yeah i’m moving**

___________

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

The convenience store was uneventful as usual. The gargoyle running the register didn’t bother with small talk and Chanyeol was grateful. But now he’s back in the dormitory hallway, pacing to help him think of something to say to Jongdae that won’t make him sound like a typically moody, aggressive wolf.

He considers opening a puzzle app when Baekhyun sends him another text asking how much longer he’ll be. Chanyeol isn’t sure whether Baek is more concerned about him or the food. Either way he supposes he can’t stay in the hallway forever.

Shuffling through the bag of snacks he pulls out a cream bun for himself and sticks it in his mouth. Perfect. Now he won’t be expected to say anything.

Chanyeol braces himself outside the door to his shared room. One hand on the door handle, he lets out one last shaky exhale through his nose. His bun is gaining a mushy consistency where it sits part of the way in his mouth. He doesn’t have time to waste.

The light laughter on the other side of the door comes to a stop as he opens the door slowly, hoping to see the other boys sitting very much apart.

Baekhyun is in front of Chanyeol in seconds with his hands held out together, palms up.

“Spare snacks, sir?” Baekhyun says.

It’s pure instinct that sends Chanyeol’s own palm into the back of his roommate’s head. The cream bun in his mouth almost falls out and he retracts his hand to grab hold of it. The first bite is less satisfying than normal, being that the bread is half-digested from his saliva before he starts chewing.

“Damn Yeol! Remind me to make a proper snack stash in here, so I don’t have to deal with— hey! Is that _my _cream bun?”

Chanyeol is tempted to nod. Instead, he shakes his head no and hands over the bag so his pack-assigned menace will back off of him.

Baekhyun yips in delight, snatches the bag out of his hands, and almost skips back over to where Jongdae is sitting on Baek’s bed. Chanyeol is going to have an aneurysm. He shoves another bite in his mouth.

While Baek is distracted unwrapping his own cream bun, Jongdae is focused on unwrapping Chanyeol. At least, that’s how Chanyeol feels.

Once again, Chanyeol’s legs move of their own accord towards the vampire. His wolf is naturally compelled to inspect the object of highest interest in the room.

Jongdae may be small but he isn’t slight as proven by the unnecessarily tight polo he’s wearing. Polos are so ugly it’s unfair that the vamp is still attractive. Chanyeol hates that he notices how it stretches across toned muscle.

What would it be like to press against that firm body? To be close enough to take in his scent? To be close enough to get _bitten_? To be _claimed_?

Chanyeol’s chest constricts and he pushes the rest of the bun into his mouth in a last ditch effort to occupy his mind with different thoughts.

When he comes back to reality and gets close enough, he notices Jongdae’s pupils shaking. His eyes can’t possibly be moving that fast to look at him, can they?

Jongdae becomes a blur, suddenly off Baekhyun’s bed and within arms reach of Chanyeol. He almost chokes on the last of the bread when Jongdae extends a pale hand. An expression of guilt flashes across the vamps face, eyebrows tilted in apology, then evolves into something more hopeful.

“I don’t know if you remember me very well. I’m Jongdae.” The vampire’s eyes flit down to where his empty hand is still extended and then up to Chanyeol’s full mouth. Chanyeol grabs Jongdae’s hand for one firm shake and a cool shock travels through his fingertips. He doesn’t know if he imagined it. He lets go faster than he wants to out of surprise.

“Mmfph-phanuh!” Chanyeol replies, horror-stricken that he short-circuited from the shock enough to forget to finish chewing and swallowing.

Jongdae suppresses a laugh but the amusement shows in his eyes. “I guess we both get a little passionate. When we’re hungry, that is.”

Chanyeol warms and tries to ignore how Jongdae’s eyes keep flickering between his mouth and eyes. He gulps and the feeling of the bread going down his throat wavers on the edge of uncomfortable because of how big the last bite was.

“I’m sorry! I’m Chanyeol!”

“Aww Yeollie, you don’t have to apologize for being you.” Baekhyun chimes in. Chanyeol almost forgot Baek was still in the room, leaning against the wall and looking smug as he tears a part of the bun off with his fingers and eats it with a flourish. At least someone’s enjoying the show.

“You were almost quiet for a full 60 seconds, Baek.” Chanyeol jokes.

Baekhyun’s response is immediate. “There’s cream on the side of your mouth, by the way.”

_Is that why Jongdae kept looking_? Chanyeol lifts an arm to wipe his face on the back of his hand, but stops himself. Jongdae would probably think that’s gross. He glares at Baekhyun and sticks out his tongue to clean around his mouth. From the corner of his vision he sees that Jongdae mirrors the action.

_Moon Goddess, take the wheel._

Baekhyun claps his hands together and says, “Anyway! Jongdae still has to pick out the movie we watch tonight. Go get your laptop.”

“_My_ laptop? Why not yours?”

“Oh please. Yours has a bigger screen, better sound system, a larger movie library, and never freezes up like mine does,” Baekhyun complains.

Chanyeol isn’t sure why, but Baek is lying. Well, lying about everything except the movie library. But his library is mainly full of horror films and Baek can’t stand those. _What is he up to?_

Deciding to play along is easier than trying to figure out what Baekhyun is planning. Chanyeol agrees and boots up his laptop and hands it off to Jongdae. Noises of approval occasionally surface from the vampire as he scrolls through the impressive library. Chanyeol tries not to stare.

“Yeollieee~” Baekhyun gets a twinkle in his eye that Chanyeol is all too familiar with. “Channie~ Chan-Chan~ Chanyeollie~ Nicest packmate ever~”

“Yes, your highness? O’ royal pain in my flank? How else can I accommodate you this afternoon?”

“Can we pretty please sit on your bed? You have all those squishy foam mattress topper things _and _soft blankets. If I’m going to be expected to sit still for 2 hours then I’ll need to be comfy.”

_Ahh. It’s adding up._ Normally it doesn’t take this long for them to get on the same wavelength.

“Duh. We always sit on my bed for movies. I don’t want to sit in your bed for two hours any more than you do. Shit’s uncomfortable. You already know the rule of no food in my bed, and it’s not like Jongdae,” Chanyeol involuntarily swallows around the name as a spike of nerves closes his throat, “has any food here for me to worry about.”

Jongdae looks up from the laptop like he’s about to make one of his horngry comments, but shuts his mouth a second after opening it.

Baekhyun starts in on the gimbap and peers over Jongdae’s shoulder at the laptop screen.

“Oh, c’mon,” he says around a stuffed mouth, “don’t tell me you’re going to pick one of the horror movies.”

“I’m not,” Jongdae says matter-of-factly, “I’m picking out a thriller. It was my favorite genre when I was a human.”

“Same difference,” Baek says.

“They’re _not _the same.” Jongdae and Chanyeol say at the same time. Chanyeol feels a prickle in his neck where he can tell Jongdae stares at him a moment too long.

Baekhyun scoffs and says something along the lines of “snobs” under his breath.

“I haven’t really watched any movies as a vampire, but from what I remember seeing I _now _know that most creatures over-exaggerate their abilities in movies.” Jongdae smiles with a faraway look in his eyes. “I was so upset when I found out that vampires don’t actually turn into bats. Shapeshifting is so cool.”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun send each other meaningful looks while Jongdae prattles on about his disappointment with the extensive list of vampire abilities that are myths.

Baek pops the last bite of his gimbap into his mouth as Jongdae makes his final decision on what movie to watch.

“Finally,” Baek says before he’s finished chewing, but when he sees Jongdae’s choice he grabs the laptop and whines. “I’m not a scaredy cat but if you see my eyes closed you best mind your business.”

Chanyeol refrains from rubbing his hands together like a villain from this small victory.

“Yeollie you get comfortable first and— what are you doing? Sit in the middle.” Baekhyun frowns.

Chanyeol halts his motion of sitting himself at the foot of his bed. “Middle?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows are raised with the same question.

“I figure you’d prefer to do the honors of holding your own laptop,” Baek sounds sheepish, “Considering I threw your previous one on the ground last time we watched a scary movie together. Therefore: _You. Middle_.”

Chanyeol narrows his eyes and stifles an urge to growl from recalling the memory. “Thanks for the reminder.” Baekhyun has always been careful with his own technology, and careless with others'. Chanyeol reaches out a hand for the laptop after he situates himself in the middle, and nearly has a heart attack when he watches Baek pretend to fumble his baby.

It’s satisfying to whack Baekhyun in the arm for messing with him after the computer is safely in his possession. It’s more satisfying to hear Jongdae laugh even with the laughter quieted from behind a closed mouth.

One lamp is kept on for Baekhyun’s benefit. He claims he needs it even though everyone in the room has night vision.

Baekhyun seats himself on Chanyeol’s left and pats the space to Chanyeol’s right for Jongdae. Jongdae contemplates for a couple seconds, seating himself closer to the head of the bed than to Chanyeol.

“I don’t bite, you know,” Chanyeol says. Jongdae’s mouth opens but no words escape.

Baekhyun snorts. “That’s actually not true, Dae.”

_Dae? Since when did they get close enough for nicknames?_

It’s hard to tell if it’s his wolf that’s getting jealous or his human side. Chanyeol shakes off the thought and keeps his eyes trained on the screen when he pushes play.

“Whatever. All I mean is you can sit closer so you don’t have to look at the screen from a bad angle.”

A hummed confirmation is all Chanyeol gets at first but about 10 minutes into the movie Jongdae has shifted close enough to brush against Chanyeol’s bicep.

He’s not used to being so aware of another body.

It’s hard to pay attention when your skin is buzzing, and try as he might Chanyeol can’t properly focus on the storyline of the movie because of it. He’s not sure if his arm is inventing the sensation of shaking from Jongdae’s upper body, but he doesn’t have an excuse to look over and check.

Most of his energy is focused into keeping his breathing steady when his wolf instincts start begging to scent the beautiful stranger. The smell of a distant rainstorm lingers in the air and Chanyeol suspects a flood of more wolf needs will arise if he gives into his wolf’s instinct to close the distance.

The only thing grounding him is one of Baekhyun’s claws digging into his leg. The suspense of the movie hasn’t allowed Baek to relax the tension that keeps his shoulders by his ears. A particularly suspenseful, quiet scene ends with a loud scream and Baekhyun startles so bad he nearly falls off the bed.

“HAHA OKAY OOPS I HAVE TO UH, CALL MY MOM, HAHA I FORGOT TO UPDATE HER ON HOW MY SEMESTER IS GOING. SHE’S EXPECTING ME TO CALL AND I WOULDN’T WANT TO UPSET HER. YOU KNOW HOW ALPHA MOMS GET HAH.”

“But what about—”

Baekhyun cuts Chanyeol off, “JUST KEEP WATCHING! I’LL BE BACK SOON! OR MAYBE A LITTLE LATER THAN SOON. TA-TA~”

Baekhyun is out the door with a cell phone in one hand and a jacket in the other, leaving the remaining two boys blinking at the vacant space.

Chanyeol is frozen, and it’s Jongdae’s hand pausing the movie that resumes his brain function.

“Sorry I know I picked out the movie, but as interesting as it seems I haven’t been paying much attention. I’m a little…” Jongdae purses his lips, “distracted.” Chanyeol holds his breath at Jongdae’s words, waits for him to continue. “It’s not because of the movie, but because I want to apologize for getting so close to Baekhyun.” _Wait what_. “I didn’t— I don’t intend to hurt you.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol is motionless, breath halfway trapped in his lungs. His mind races with thoughts of Jongdae rejecting him for Baekhyun before he’s even had the chance to make his simmering feelings known.

“I’m sure you want to go check on him. I can just go back to my apartment so you don’t have to stay here for my sake. This whole encounter can be a one time deal, if you prefer.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol repeats, even more lost and unsure if he should feel hurt by Jongdae wanting to leave as soon as they’re left alone together. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He closes the laptop and pushes it to the side that Baekhyun previously occupied, protecting it from any overreaction he may have. He can’t afford another replacement this year.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not trying to come between you and Baekhyun.” Jongdae looks him dead in the eye. “I swear.”

“Me? And Baekhyun?” Chanyeol raises his eyebrows so high they disappear into his fringe. “Come between us?”

Jongdae almost looks sad saying, “I can see you’re close and, don’t take this the wrong way but, it’s clear you have feelings towards him. I don’t know if he knows but you should express them sooner than later. The connection is present and it’s not my place to mess with it.”

_WHAT?! _

Chanyeol’s eyes are probably bulging right now. This is _not_ the direction he expected.

“HELL NO. I do not—no—_we_ do not have feelings for each other. Sure we’re close but not like that.” His eyebrows become visible again as they furrow, and his brain to mouth filter malfunctions. “I mean, there was that one time during my hea—” _Shut up! Shut up Chanyeol!_ “Eeugh, NO! Forget that please?” Chanyeol can’t believe this is the first real conversation they’re having, and he’s stumbling over every word. His wolf mustn’t be interested in talking right now.

Jongdae’s eyes zone out. “So you two aren’t—”

“No we aren’t together. No we don’t want to be together. No I’m not jealous that he’s hanging out with you. I’m jealous that _you’re _not hanging out with _me_!” He’s whining by the time he reaches the end of the word waterfall coming from his traitor mouth.

Oh. He’s _emotional _emotional_. _His wolf can’t even be blamed. Chanyeol is just easily flustered.

He needs a moment to remember how to shut up and breathe, and Jongdae uses the silence to process the new information.

But the silence continues longer than it should.

Chanyeol feels his ears flush increasingly deeper shades of red as the seconds tick by.

With the ability to see Jongdae this close, Chanyeol fixates on his eyes waiting for a flash of understanding in them. Watching the slight shake of constricted pupils under dark lashes, the vampire’s brick-red irises appear to swirl as the gears turn in his head. Chanyeol doesn’t notice his own head slowly gravitating towards Jongdae’s to maintain eye contact.

The flash comes a minute later with a blink and a frown from Jongdae, and it breaks Chanyeol out of his reverie.

“So. I guess I should apologize for implying you were territorial over Baekhyun.” Jongdae scoots back a bit to create distance and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve made a second impression almost as bad as my first. I was overtly standoffish when I first saw you. Then of course I met Baekhyun and acted totally opposite. I shouldn’t have shut that door on you.”

Jongdae’s voice is small and he genuinely looks guilty, just as he had when he crashed that door into Baek’s skull.

“I always thought the weird tension between vampires and werewolves was unwarranted when I was a human, and yet here I am, assuming strange things about you just because you’re a wolf. I’d probably feel left out if I was in your shoes.”

Chanyeol waves his hands and shakes his head. Jongdae’s interpretation of Chanyeol’s frustration is so close, yet so far from the truth. “Misunderstanding was on both ends.”

Jongdae’s head tilts and Chanyeol catches himself before he can mimic the action. “How so?”

Chanyeol can keep secrets pretty well but lying wears him out. He heaves a heavy sigh that invades his senses with the vamps stormy scent, lingering like sticky humidity, and his wolf compels him to be honest. “I thought you were interested in Baekhyun. I figured you to be understandably more picky about your potential food like most vampires are.” _Damn not that honest._

Jongdae’s mouth opens and closes a few times, but there are few responses that he can say that won’t come off incriminating. Chanyeol can’t sit in silence any longer than they already have and decides to be upfront.

“It wasn’t a coincidence that we all met, actually. Baek and I were expecting to see you. An… acquaintance told us where to find you, but we didn’t go looking for the reason you think. You want wolf blood right? Baek wanted to see you to make sure you weren’t a threat and I guess I was generally curious enough to tag along.”

Jongdae gets a look of pained clarity.

“Sehun. The fur. He. I’m.” Jongdae clenches his jaw and averts his attention to where his thumbs have started to twiddle. “Embarrassed. I didn’t realize everyone knew.”

“Oh. The whole pack knows about the blood request, but Baek and I are the only ones in the pack who know it was _you_ who requested it. Sehun doesn’t associate with a lot of wolves, but he was forward about wanting us to meet you. Baek has something of a soft spot for him so it was only a matter of time. You know Sehun, huh? I knew it was weird that the person who people associate him with most, sired you.”

“Definitely a matter of time. Sehun’s will is apparently inevitable. I’ve known him as long as I’ve known Junmyeon but I can’t confidently say I know him beyond the surface.” Jongdae mouths _fucker_ at his thumbs. “Why he made it his goal to embarrass me like this is beyond me. He knows the Change has been difficult for me. Testing my limits by putting a couple werewolves on my case makes no sense.”

Jongdae’s demeanor darkens, contemplating his shortcomings as an immortal.

Chanyeol’s wolf urges him to comfort Jongdae, and before he even registers that he’s moving, his right hand surrounds Jongdae’s twitching hands, obscuring both of them from view. Is he that big or is Jongdae that small? Either way his wolf ensures him they’re exactly right. The cool skin feels soothing against his warm hands.

Sehun doesn’t seem like the type to purposefully hurt someone, especially not someone who is close to Professor Kim. He’s used to always being right. Maybe this will go down in history as one of the only mistakes Sehun made.

“If he’s testing you then you’re doing well from what I’ve seen. Hey. Want to hear something stupid?”

Jongdae’s eyes tear away from their touching hands to Chanyeol’s face. The corner of his mouth lifts in an attempt to smile but there are still clouds in his eyes. He nods.

“I feel so weird saying this but you know how I said I thought you were interested in Baekhyun? He seems to appeal to you— blood-wise— and I don’t. It made more sense to me that you treated us differently because his blood is worth sampling and mine isn’t.” Clearly his brain to mouth filter is still missing. Who says sample? “I’ve been getting worked up over you not wanting my blood.”

Jongdae’s face screws up and he takes in an uncharacteristic, big breath like he’s about to argue, but he doesn’t get the chance to complain. Not when his pupils dilate and he’s too busy shaking from the waist up. His inner eyebrows tilt up and Chanyeol can’t tell if the look in his eyes hold fear or desire.

Jongdae pulls his hands from Chanyeol’s giant paw and one hand covers his face while the other holds up a finger signalling that he needs a moment. The shaking in his chest transfers to his shoulders and it’s an awkward sight to see him in hysterics, struggling and stifling laughter at the same time. Gradually the shaking stops and Jongdae uncovers his face enough to show his eyes, keeping his mouth partially covered, so he can turn his whole body to look at Chanyeol more directly.

“I didn’t take you for the competitive type, but I should’ve known. To be blunt, all wolf blood is very appealing to me. I don’t know if you can tell but being in an enclosed space with wolves keeps my predatory senses painfully present, and my sense of smell only comes second to taste. I wasn’t expecting to see a werewolf anywhere near my class when we met. By the time I saw Baekhyun I already knew I’d have to hold my breath. Sorry that you just so happened to be the one who caught me by surprise the first time around.” Chanyeol doesn’t suspect for a second that Jongdae isn’t telling the whole truth.

This insight is so refreshing, Chanyeol gets the urge to yip.

“So you’d feed from me, and not just Baek?” He hopes he doesn’t sound as hopeful as he feels.

Jongdae’s eyes no longer hold the mirth they did moments ago, and his hand grips tighter on his mouth. “You can’t just say that,” Jongdae groans. He pulls farther away from Chanyeol.

Chanyeol isn’t sure if Jongdae’s eye have a faint glow to them or if it’s his overactive imagination, but the vampire’s lids lower making it harder to tell. It took one question to flip the mood of the room and suddenly there’s not enough air untainted by Jongdae’s scent for Chanyeol to breathe that will help him think straight. He doesn’t want to see Jongdae pull away.

“Even if I’m being serious? I don’t mind. I wasn’t raised in a traditional family, so I’m not averse to the idea like Baekhyun. It’s something I can do to help you… reintegrate. Friends help each other, right?”

Jongdae quivers and gets up from the bed, facing away from Chanyeol. He’s hunched over enough for his shirt to strain a little extra across his shoulders. Chanyeol notes how small Jongdae’s waist looks in comparison to his shoulders. Maybe if Chanyeol’s hands were just a little bigger he’d be able to—

“I’m not prepared for that.” Voice bordering on a whine. “Mmuhh. We’ll have to continue this conversation over text I think.” Jongdae recites his phone number so Chanyeol can add him to his contacts.

After some time Jongdae is able to correct his posture and he stops covering his face, but he doesn’t turn back around to Chanyeol, gathering his stuff and pausing at the door. Chanyeol figures it’s not the time or place to ask if Jongdae does goodbye hugs.

Jongdae apologizes for his behavior and urges Chanyeol to text him in an hour or so after he’s had time to go home and eat. Chanyeol tilts his body to follow Jongdae’s form with his eyes as he leaves.

~

The door is hardly finished shutting before Chanyeol turns to stare at the pillows and blankets Jongdae had contact with. He knows Baekhyun made the request to watch the movie on Chanyeol’s bed in order to reduce scent transfer to Baekhyun’s bed and appease Chanyeol’s wolf.

Grabbing some of the pillows and tucking himself close to the wall to surround himself, Chanyeol takes in the stormy scent to calm his mind. That whole interaction gave him whiplash.

His phone vibrates.

And keeps vibrating.

Someone’s calling and he already knows who it is before he sees the screen. He answers the phone with a drawn out sigh.

“Baaaeeeekkkk,” breathe in, “hyuuuunnnn,” breathe out.

“I’m coming back, but I’ll combust if I’m forced to wait any longer for you to tell me why Jongdae ran from the dorm with his fangs on full blast. I’ve barely been gone for 20 minutes. You move fast.”

Jongdae’s fangs? Were out? Chanyeol didn’t even bother to think about why Jongdae kept his mouth concealed behind his hand, but it makes sense. To have such a glaring display of lack of control would be embarrassing for anyone. Fangs are supposed to grow to full length right before and during feeding. Not when casually talking about feeding like they were.

At least that’s what’s taught in basic monster anatomy in high school.

Chanyeol takes too long to respond and Baekhyun laughs, “By the Moon Goddess you just found out now, huh? See you in a few.” Baek hangs up.

Chanyeol sets a one hour timer and buries himself further in his bedding.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Jongdae knew he’d need time to prepare but it’s been a month of hanging out with Chanyeol and Baekhyun in small doses to desensitize himself and he still feels like he’s at square one. His mind can never quiet around the wolf.

His greatest achievement so far has been gaining the ability to keep his fangs at bay when he breathes near Chanyeol. Premature elongation subdued! That’s no small feat when Chanyeol is someone who smells the way warm feels. An addictive scent when you exist at room temperature.

“Are you thinking about him again? Jongdae please if you’re going to use my office as study room can you at least study?” Junmyeon asks. He’s been kind enough to let Jongdae avoid the library when he wants to study on campus, but this privilege is a couple more Chanyeol feeding fantasies away from getting revoked.

“I’m taking a break” Jongdae whines from across the desk.

“Your facial expression contradicts that statement. Try again.”

“Fine. I’m working on my next plan of attack for how to stop planning an attack on Chanyeol. The more time I spend preparing the more stir-crazy I become. I don’t get why I have such little control.” Jongdae doesn’t mention how Chanyeol’s blood in particular calls to him. He’s felt his control around other werewolves improving exponentially, but he still becomes so single minded around Chanyeol. His thoughts alternate between obsession to take everything and obsession to give everything to Chanyeol.

“You’re trying to prepare yourself for something you won’t be ready for until it happens.” Junmyeon folds his fingers together over the hefty stack of papers he’s grading and stares at Jongdae like he should know better.

“He’s doing me an invaluable favor, I don’t want to hurt him because I couldn’t be bothered to consider that I’m failable.”

Junmyeon rubs his temples. “Do you know how difficult it would be to actually harm a werewolf? I don’t think you give Chanyeol enough credit for being in a giant body at least twice your size, with regenerative capabilities you won’t be able to surpass for another 40 years. I find your lack of faith disturbing,”

It takes a great deal of effort for Jongdae to not roll his eyes.

“Ooh what has you pulling out a Vader quote today, Myeonnie?” Sehun appears out of a teleportation circle in the corner of the office. Show-off.

Jongdae doesn’t bother holding back the eyeroll this time.

“Jongdae—” Junmyeon doesn’t get to finish his thought because Jongdae slaps a hand over his mouth.

“You got spells for controlling bloodlust? Or a spell to alter my sense of smell? Or maybe a spell that would grant me the knowledge of why you enjoy making a fool out of OUCH!” Jongdae yelps when Junmyeon bites his hand.

“Damn, Dae. Already on my case today.” Sehun leans against the desk and examines his nail bed. “I have a satiation potion that would make you less hungry so that it’d be easier for you stop feeding if you’re concerned about overdoing it. I have lots of spells for changing your sense of smell but I wouldn’t recommend them if you plan to enjoy feeding. And I’m fresh out of spells for your last request.”

“How much for the satiation potion? And don’t even think of saying any value higher than _free_.”

Sehun pouts and moves behind Junmyeon’s chair so he can drape himself over it and rest his head on Junmyeon’s. “Free for you because Junmyeon settles your debts to me.” He winks.

Jongdae makes a face at the maroon glimmer passing through Junmyeon’s eyes that suspiciously refuse to meet his own. _Gross_. Jongdae doesn’t want to know.

“Riiiight.” Jongdae stands up and starts to pack up his stuff into his bag. “When can I drop by to pick it up?”

Sehun reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a wallet. He sets it on the desk, opening it to reveal an assortment of tiny, colored bottles. He pulls one out with liquid that looks like melted butter and the bottle expands to the size of soda can. “You can have it now. One spoonful lasts about an hour, but don’t take more than three at a time.”

Jongdae throws his bag over his shoulder and grabs the bottle. He holds it in the air like he’s proposing a toast and says his thanks before hurrying out of the office to go home.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Jongdae gets back to his apartment and immediately takes a swig of the bottle. He’ll have to go buy spoons to properly measure this stuff later.

The potion smells like cereal and is virtually flavorless. Jongdae had expected much worse. Maybe Sehun deserves all those witchy bragging rights after all.

He opens his blood storage cabinet and removes a chilled bag of O-. He squishes the bag for a few minutes unsure of when the potion should start working. It’s not worth sending an inquisitive text to Sehun though. He has room for trial and error.

Taking a seat on his couch, Jongdae uncaps the bag and brings it to his lips. His fangs slowly emerge as his imagination begins to build a scene where he can sink his teeth into Chanyeol. Is that fucked up? Jongdae doesn’t want to think about the moral ambiguity right now.

The scalloped rubber edges on either side of the opening in the bag receive Jongdae’s bite. He goes about his meal business as usual for a few seconds until he realizes the absence of urgency to finish the bag. There’s a sensation of satiation within a few gulps and for once he’s able to choose his pace without every instinct shouting at him to _take_. In fact, his mind is quiet. Sehun has been holding out on him this whole time.

Finishing the bag is anticlimactic and he releases it from his bite so he can look at the empty plastic for a while. It’s physical proof that even if the blood tasted good and could be finished, he wasn’t burdened with the hunger.

Excitement bubbles in his chest over a newfound feeling of self-assurance.

_Nice_.

After cleaning up he decides to send a text.

_Pick a date._

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some time has passed since the last chapter!

“So. How do _you _wanna do this?”

Sitting on his knees on Jongdae’s bed, Chanyeol pouts at Jongdae’s question. Jongdae is standing in front of him by the foot of the bed trying his best to not wring his hands.

“I’m not experienced with this stuff.” Chanyeol’s cheeks flush as he speaks. “You’d know better what I want, wouldn’t you? The only suggestion I can come up with is to, uh, maybe lay a towel down. I don’t want to ruin your sheets.”

They simultaneously turn their heads to look at the wine red bedspread.

“It wouldn’t stain them too bad,” Jongdae attempts joking with a tight throat. “Besides I don’t plan to be messy. Do you?”

Chanyeol refocuses his attention to Jongdae’s unbuttoned shirt collar, figuring out if he’s going to squirm around enough to cause a mess. “I don’t think so? But I don’t know how my wolf side will react. I like you but even between unmated werewolf partners— we don’t—”

Jongdae’s brick-red eyes widen. “Oh, I’m not planning to bite your neck.” He flutters his eyelids as if it will help him to stop imagining one of his more powerful fantasies. Now is not the time to think about claiming Chanyeol with a bite as if he planned to sire him. Even with his endless energy, Jongdae feels an abrupt need to climb into a coffin. “I’m thinking more along the lines of your arm.”

Chanyeol catches the slight shake in Jongdae’s voice and he realizes that the vampire might be nervous for reasons other than his worries about causing Chanyeol harm.

“Show me where,” Chanyeol holds out a bare arm, “please.”

Jongdae rakes his eyes over Chanyeol to refocus his thoughts. From Chanyeol’s knees pressed together in his lucky red basketball shorts, to his wide-neck bro tank, and up to his determined face. Chanyeol’s whole image is a contrast to Jongdae’s own button down and dark wash jeans. At least one of them had the foresight to dress for comfort.

“First of all, I’m not going to feed from your dominant arm.” Jongdae softly presses Chanyeol’s proffered arm back into his lap and grabs Chanyeol’s left arm. He turns Chanyeol’s arm so his palm faces upwards and traces the pads of his cool fingers up and down the warm skin, enjoying the slight shiver it elicits from the wolf. Eventually he slows to press a thumb into the soft skin of the forearm nearer to Chanyeol’s elbow. Jongdae’s Adam’s apple bobs. “Here,” he whispers.

“Okay,” Chanyeol whispers back before clearing his throat and speaking up. “What’s the best position for us…sitting? Laying?”

Jongdae drops to his knees, tugging Chanyeol’s arm down enough to make Chanyeol grasp the edge of the bed with his right hand and slightly slouch over. Jongdae makes a face that expresses his concern for Chanyeol’s comfort and immediately stands back up. “Mmmn… not that… maybe this?” Jongdae guides Chanyeol to lay down on his back with his left arm outstretched, and Jongdae tilts his head in thought trying to find a spot for him to situate himself in.

Jongdae grumbles and pulls Chanyeol back to a sitting position. He mumbles something along the lines of _headboard_ and gestures for Chanyeol to scoot back towards the small mountain of pillows with his legs outstretched. Jongdae hands Chanyeol another pillow to hold onto with his right arm “_for comfort_” and gets on the bed next to him and continues to wiggle around and move Chanyeol’s arm about fruitlessly.

Chanyeol can tell Jongdae is having difficulty making it comfortable for both of them, and becomes all too aware of how Jongdae is trying to reduce the intimacy of the situation as much as possible. Understandable considering Chanyeol offered himself up as a favor because he’s Jongdae’s _friend_.

Chanyeol lets Jongdae wiggle for a few more seconds before rushing out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“We can be close, you know?” Chanyeol says.

Jongdae freezes and tries to mask a sheepish look, “Yeah.”

“May I try?” Chanyeol asks and Jongdae nods. Chanyeol puts aside the pillow and pulls his legs in enough to allow them to loosely spread open and leave a Jongdae-sized space between them. “Sit here. Back to me.”

Jongdae stares intently at the space Chanyeol starts patting and wonders what he did in a past life to suffer so satisfyingly like this.

“Trust me,” Chanyeol continues, “if it’s not comfortable for you we can try something— oH!”

Jongdae scrambles with his supernatural speed into the space.

“No no! This is good! This is good!” Jongdae says with newfound confidence, pulling Chanyeol’s left arm over his shoulder. Chanyeol’s limb is wrapped around him enough to keep his forearm positioned directly in front of Jongdae’s upturned lips. “This is very good. You’re a genius.”

Jongdae uses his own hands to support Chanyeol’s arm and keep it close. The proximity is sending Chanyeol’s heart into overdrive and he hopes Jongdae isn’t paying too much attention to his reaction.

Turning his head to the side Jongdae glances sideways at Chanyeol and his eyelashes stand out even more at this angle. “Are you sure you still want to do this? Not saying I don’t enjoy the back massage, but your heart palpitations tell me you may be having second thoughts.”

Chanyeol presses his arm closer to Jongdae. “No second thoughts. It’s just… my brain finally catching up and acknowledging this is happening. I’m still 110% game.”

Jongdae chuckles. “I think I understand what you mean, in my own way. This is new territory for both of us, regardless of how many times I’ve fed.”

“Right.” Chanyeol replies.

“Seriously if it’s too much just tell me when to stop.” Jongdae’s stern tone rumbles against Chanyeol’s chest as he turns his mouth back to the Bite Zone. “Or tug on my hair or tap me a couple times if you find words hard to come by.”

“Will do.” Chanyeol breathes out, winded from the thought of being left speechless by a bite.

Jongdae licks his lips. “Want me to count down or?”

“Not necessary. Whenever you’re ready, I am.” Chanyeol replies.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

A purposeful puff of cool breath is the only forewarning Chanyeol gets before there’s pressure from Jongdae’s lips on the sensitive skin of his arm, causing Chanyeol to squeeze his eyes shut. Following the teasing puff of air, Jongdae grazes his elongated teeth on the surface. The feeling has Chanyeol sending his free right arm to encircle the vampire’s small waist. Maybe Jongdae was onto something when he tried to get Chanyeol to hold onto a pillow for comfort earlier.

The solid feeling of Jongdae’s compact frame, paired with welcoming scent of heavy downpour, grounds Chanyeol. Jongdae must sense the beginnings of tension melting off Chanyeol, because a second later the auditory sensation of Jongdae breaking though Chanyeol’s skin hits before the pain does.

Chanyeol inhales sharply, readying himself to tell Jongdae it hurts too much, but the pain fades almost as quickly as it came. His wolf is elated. Chanyeol isn’t sure if this is advantageous or not. He expected at least some fight from his more instinctual half, but instead his wolf preens at receiving an intentional bite.

Vibrations ripple through his veins before an abrupt wave of warmth washes over him and evolves into rapidly building euphoria. Jongdae explained that vampire saliva has a chemical that helps to numb the area and relax the “victim” to allow their blood to flow more freely, but this is so much more than that. Chanyeol isn’t sure if the whimpering noises are coming from himself or Jongdae. They sound so distant.

Chnayeol subconsciously wraps his right arm tighter around Jongdae’s middle, grasping the soft cotton of his button down and kneading it against Jongdae’s torso. _Should we have removed our shirts?_ Chanyeol forgot to ask.

Jongdae keeps Chanyeol’s arm held in place with his left hand so he can trail his right hand down to grab Chanyeol’s hand. He interlocks their fingers and squeezes a few times as if he’s trying to communicate something to Chanyeol. Or maybe he just knows that Chanyeol needs the contact.

The whimpering noises come closer to whines, but everything sounds like he’s hearing it underwater, so Chanyeol can only continue to hope it’s not coming from himself. While his arm is pleasantly numb, the rest of Chanyeol’s body feels like it has been ignited. He’s a wolf for Goddesses' sake, heat is something he’s normally accustomed to, but this particular flame within him is different. No, not different, distantly familiar but Chanyeol can’t quite put his finger on it. He’s too preoccupied with the building pressure in his chest to expend brain power.

The fire aches to be relieved from his bones and the cold figure in front of him enables him to seek that relief. He brings his head to rest on the vampire’s right shoulder and the resulting sigh develops into a soft whine from the cooling sensation on his cheek— confirming that Chanyeol has been making the embarrassing noises all along. Jongdae said words might be hard to come by but this is ridiculous.

The werewolf is drawn to bury his head as close to Jongdae’s neck as he can, desperately needing to scent him, urged to stake his own claim. Jongdae smells too much like endless rain in a thunderstorm, a little bit like how batteries taste, and not enough like Chanyeol. His lips twitch in frustration knowing that he can’t just lick Jongdae to force his own scent to linger. _“Just friends”_ don’t do that.

At least being cooled off by Jongdae helps clear some of the fog in his head. The more he presses against Jongdae, the more awareness settles in allowing him to feel his own body. Feel his lungs working double time while he pants into the pallid skin. Feel his ears rush with every committed heartbeat. Feel the moisture on his cheeks from the sweat running down his temples. Feel how his shorts are stuck to his skin from keeping Jongdae locked between his trembling thighs. Feel—

_Oh._

Feel his cock stiffening.

_Abort._

As much as Chanyeol craves this and wants to continue, he knows this isn’t how he plans to tell Jongdae about his suspiciously present feelings of attraction.

He tries to say Jongdae’s name but his brain is happily fuzzy and disconnected from his vocal chords, and all that comes out is a whoosh of air. He stops kneading with his right hand in order to withdraw the shaking arm from Jongdae’s middle, and he lifts his hand enough to feebly pat Jongdae’s chest. Chanyeol lifts his head off the firm shoulder with difficulty and attempts another go at Jongdae’s name with a breathy “_Jsshhh_”.

This time when Chanyeol hears a whine he knows it’s coming from Jongdae, whose teeth are regrettably no longer dug into his arm. The vampire begins licking the wound clean, seeing the skin already mending itself from the wolf’s supernatural healing. It felt like Jongdae had been feeding forever, but Chanyeol already starts to miss the feeling of Jongdae’s lips on his skin.

“See?” the rich timbre of Jongdae’s voice reverberates in Chanyeol’s pounding ears and vampire gives a final nuzzle down the length of the forearm. “No mess.”

Jongdae lowers Chanyeol’s arm but keeps their hands intertwined in his lap. Jongdae is situated in the tight hold of Chanyeol’s legs, curious about how long it will take the leg muscles to relax enough to give him more wiggle room. Not that he minds being enveloped by someone double his size.

Chanyeol isn’t sure what to say. Partly because he’s not sure if he can get a coherent thought out yet.

“You don’t need to say anything yet,” Jongdae says slowly as if reading Chanyeol’s mind, “feeding had a stronger effect on you than I expected. Hell, it had a strong effect on me too. It’s probably for the best that we stopped with how feverish you are.” Jongdae makes a small noise like he’s gotten an idea. He shifts their upper limbs around just enough to place Chanyeol’s right hand face down in his own open palm. “One tap for no. Two for maybe. Three for yes. Got it?”

Chanyeol taps a finger in Jongdae’s palm three times.

“Are you feeling okay?”

_Three taps._

“Did I hurt you?”

_One tap._

“Do you want me to leave you alone for a couple minutes?”

_One firm tap._

“Does holding me help?”

_Two shy taps._ Chanyeol wants to— no— _needs _to hold Jongdae. On one hand the refreshing cool weight of his body is bringing him back down to Earth, but on the other hand Chanyeol thinks he’ll die if Jongdae can feel his erection. He prays to Goddess that Jongdae can’t feel anything with all the layers between them.

“Would you prefer I stay here in the room _without _touching you?”

_Another single firm tap._ If Jongdae gets up, Chanyeol knows his basketball shorts will do _nothing _to mask the tent he’s sporting. Besides his legs are refusing to cooperate and relinquish their grip.

“Alright… I’ll just stay where I am then. Feel free to hold me or push me off as you need.” Jongdae sounds content. Full.

They sit in relative silence apart from Chanyeol’s laboured breathing, minutes tick by slowly as he wills away his arousal. As he comes back into his body Chanyeol realizes that what he thought was sweat earlier is actually tears. _I felt so good that I cried and didn’t even know_.

He’s too embarrassed to wipe away the salty tracks, and they make his face feel stiff as they dry against his warm cheeks. _Is this normal? Would it be obvious that I got turned on if I ask? I don’t think I can google this, can I? Holy shit is this why humans used to volunteer to do this without compensation? What the f—_

“What the _fuck?_” Chanyeol says a little too loud. Arousal _over_. His leg muscles relax but continue to occasionally twitch from the exertion. Thank the Moon Goddess they didn’t cramp up.

“Welcome back,” Jongdae replies, amused. “Your temperature is dropping from boiling lava to boiling water, so that’s progress. Can I get you something? Like a snack or some juice maybe?”

“Yes, please.” Chanyeol’s tongue feels too big for his mouth. “Take your time.”

“Take my time? Why—” Jongdae tries to turn around but Chanyeol stops him with a firm grip.

“Don’t look! Yet. I’m still. I don’t know. Processing I think? Go and get something sugary while I go… wash my hands or something. Please.” Chanyeol releases the grip and inwardly cringes at how stilted his words are.

Jongdae inhales and straightens his back like he’s going to argue, but decides to leave whatever he was going to say for a later conversation. “I’ll go to the convenience store across the street for some ice cream. Choco-mint is your favorite right? It’ll help cool you off.”

“Yeah. Ice cream sounds great.”

“Okay I’ll be back soon. Don’t go anywhere Chanyeol, I mean it. You should rest some more while you heal.”

“I’m not going anywhere if choco-mint ice cream is getting involved. I think I just need a moment to myself. Don’t worry about it. I’m a big wolf.” He needs a moment to make sure his face doesn’t look an absolute mess actually, but Jongdae doesn’t need to know that.

Jongdae hums skeptically and extracts himself from Chanyeol’s warmth, very purposefully moving so that it’s obvious he’s making an effort to not look at Chanyeol. It looks like a struggle. It’s kind of cute. “Five minutes,” Jongdae says as he turns the corner out of his room.

“Make it ten!” Chanyeol says as the door closes to leave him to himself.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Once the apartment door is closed Jongdae forgoes the elevator to sprint down the stairs. He needs to release some energy and stop his racing thoughts before he sees Chanyeol again.

It barely takes a minute for Jongdae to make it across the street to the convenience store. Catching his reflection in the glass of the store door makes Jongdae grateful Chanyeol wouldn’t allow him to turn around. The crazed look on his face is accentuated by the burning orange hue his eyes have turned.

_That’s new._

He wipes the corners of his mouth where the last remnants of Chanyeol’s lifeblood linger and enters the store with his head down to pass the cashier. Jongdae frantically skims the freezers for the color green, successfully locating choco-mint ice cream. He doesn’t have the patience to figure out what brand to buy so he swipes a few different pints and speeds back to the register. He nearly trips as he suddenly recalls the ghost feeling of Chanyeol’s breath on his neck, but he catches himself on the front counter.

_That’s new, too._

He places entirely too much money on the counter, barely squeezing out the words “sorry, in a hurry” to the cashier before grabbing a plastic bag himself and hurtling back towards the apartment.

The whole trip took him just over 4 minutes and now he has 6 to spare. He places the bag of ice creams outside his apartment door and starts jogging in place. He runs his tongue across his gums that have pleasantly calmed from being bathed in blood so sweet and savory. There is no food he can compare the flavor profile to; he knew he’d always miss never getting to eat pizza or fried chicken again, but he’d give them up any day for this wolf’s blood.

He’s accustomed to the bitter aftertaste the blood bags leave in his mouth, but Chanyeol’s blood lingers with flavors of warmth that sensitize his throat each time he inhales. Drinking anything else might begin to feel like torture.

Chanyeol satisfied an appetite beyond the physical one Jongdae is familiar with. With that satiation potion running in his system, physical hunger was not a concern regardless of how delectable he tasted. Chanyeol satisfied him emotionally, filled him with ghost sensations of heavy fluttering in his chest that he hasn’t felt since he was _alive_. And somehow the joy of being alive could not compare to the rapture of feeding from _his _wolf. Jongdae halts at the thought.

_My wolf?_

_My Chanyeol?_

_Mine._

Is this an effect of wolf blood? Acquiring territorial feelings? He’d rather not ask Junmyeon, but he doubts a web search will yield him anything.

His previous thoughts these past few weeks included wanting to give everything to Chanyeol, but they were clouded with thoughts about needing to take first. The need to take is barely a whisper now. He’s taken enough.

A tingle travels down Jongdae’s spine as he compulsively fills his mind with the noises Chanyeol made. Jongdae knows he can’t let himself think that those sounds were for him, but indulges for a minute or four, if only to entertain the feeling that he was needed.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

With Jongdae out of the apartment Chanyeol jumps up off the bed, only to crash back down on the mattress while black dots temporarily dance around his vision. When they finally go away he stands up slower with success and shuffles his way into the bathroom.

Chanyeol almost doesn’t recognize himself in the mirror. He looks fucked out with his curly hair tousled in every direction, tan skin glowing with a slight sheen of sweat, rosy cheeks, and glossy round eyes.

_Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad for Jongdae to see me after all. I kinda look… sexy…_

Chanyeol admires himself for a moment, a little disappointed that the bite wound on his arm is barely a shadow of a mark, before turning the faucet on to scrub his clammy hands. He gives the shower a contemplative look knowing he’d feel better if he showered, but he also has no interest in washing off _The Sexy_ before Jongdae can see.

He pats some water on his cheeks to cool his face and remove the stiff feeling of the tear tracks. It’s soothing enough that he nearly jumps when the door to Jongdae’s studio apartment opens.

“Nine minutes. Sorry I’m not sure what brand you like so I grabbed a few— Yeol?” Jongdae’s voice strains in slight panic.

“Bathroom!” Chanyeol yips out. “I told you I’d wash my hands.” His wolf preens at being referred to by a nickname.

The plastic convenience store bag Jongdae is holding rustles from being set down on the table. “Is it okay for me to look at you now?”

Chanyeol dries his hands on his tank top by bunching the fabric in his fists and walks out of the bathroom with them still wrapped up. “Yeah, I’m good now WHOA I didn’t know you could move that fast!”

In the blink of an eye, Jongdae went from being in the kitchen to standing with Chanyeol by the ensuite bathroom.

“I won’t lie it’s kind of difficult to stay still,” Jongdae rushes out the words, focusing where Chanyeol’s hands are wrapped up. “I feel like I could lift a building, swim across the ocean and jump to the moon all at the same time.”

The frenzied look on Jongdae’s face is replaced with an expression Chanyeol can’t quite put a name to as Jongdae takes in his full appearance, pupils darting with imperceptible speed.

Chanyeol catches movement of Jongdae scenting the air and the vampire gets a faraway look in his eyes— they glow like embers. _That’s new, _Chanyeol thinks, entranced.

“Dae?” Chanyeol tests the nickname.

“Ice... Cream. Table.”

Chanyeol looks away and starts towards the table as the telltale beating of his heart picks up.

“I guess all that energy comes from being full of fresh blood, huh?” Chanyeol tries to steer the conversation to be about Jongdae. He reaches in the bag and takes out an ice cream pint at random.

“Umm, I wouldn’t exactly say that’s why,” Jongdae says, his body becoming a blur around the kitchen and table as he puts the extra pints in the freezer and procures a spoon for Chanyeol. “It’s the, uh, act. The experience that hypes vampires up. I don’t get this kind of buzz from the stuff provided by campus blood services.”

“What?” Chanyeol needs Jongdae to be a little less cryptic. Getting the perfect first bite of this ice cream is using up most of his mental bandwidth.

“Eating food is different than feeding, Chanyeol. I don’t know how to explain without sounding gross.”

“I don’t have the mind right now to understand unless you explain,” Chanyeol says around a mouth full of ice cream, pointing his spoon at Jongdae.

Jongdae sighs and stares at the pint Chanyeol is devouring, timing when he should grab the next pint out of the freezer. “It’s like… the difference between you eating that pint of ice cream versus you going out in the forest and hunting for a snack. The ice cream is less rewarding in comparison.”

“That would depend on what I’m hunting and how successful I am. It’s situational.” Chanyeol rolls the ice cream on his tongue. “I still don’t follow considering this pint is _definitely _rewarding.”

“It’s the… the…” Jongdae takes a seat and looks at the ceiling as if it will give him the right words to say. “I don’t know Chanyeol. Blood bags can be warmed and drank to simulate feeding. The blood can even taste fresh. It’s,” Jongdae drags a hand down his face, “getting to directly feed from the source. Getting to… _god_ I can’t believe I’m saying this. Getting to feel the life, the warmth, the exhilaration of _taking_.” Jongdae’s eyes flutter shut and his voice lowers. “Sometimes feeling the fear, or desperation, or desire; not just mine but the victim’s.” Jongdae’s eyes snap back open. “I’m not trying to say I see you as a victim!”

Chanyeol has yet to put the next bite in his mouth, leaving the ice cream to melt enough to drip onto the table. He represses a shudder but can’t help how his ears turn pink.

“You can feel your victim’s emotions?”

“Not directly,” Jongdae says slowly. “Just sense them. Read the mood in their body language.”

Chanyeol nearly swallows his tongue out of trepidation when he asks, “What emotions did you sense from me? Is your leg bouncing like crazy because I transferred my nervousness to you, or is that much energy normal?” He doesn’t mention his feelings of arousal near the end of their experiment for obvious reasons.

Jongdae looks under the table at his guilty leg willing it to stop shaking up and down. “Um. Normal, I guess.” Jongdae still needs to work on his ability to lie. “ I didn’t sense nervousness as much as I sensed excitement. That’s all I could latch onto because I wanted to focus on not over-feeding.”

“Mmh.” Chanyeol doesn’t have the courage to push that topic any further, worried about the connotation of _excitement_. Instead he pushes ice cream around the soon-to-be-empty container. “So, about the flavor. How did I taste?” He waggles his eyebrows. Or at least he tries to. Their movements resembling twitching more than smooth muscle movements.

_Perfect_. Jongdae’s mind supplies. “Like you smell,” Jongdae’s idiot mouth replies.

Chanyeol laughs. “And what is that exactly? Like wolf?” His face sobers up a little when an unwelcome thought intrudes. “Like all werewolves? Any werewolf.” Maybe he shouldn’t have asked.

“Is this an interview with a vampire, Chanyeol?” Jongdae attempts a smirk but he’s so nervous about the truth that his expression looks uncomfortable instead. He can’t figure out why the thought of Chanyeol knowing the depth of how unique the experience was scares him.

The wolf’s eyes widen, misinterpreting Jongdae’s expression. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be grilling you with questions.” He stands up to toss out the few remaining spoonfuls in the pint that have spent too much time at room temperature. “Speaking of grilling, I’m supposed to go to a pack barbeque tonight with Baekhyun. I should really go get ready.”

Jongdae can’t get a word in as Chanyeol continues to talk about pack bonding and describing how Baekhyun will need him and how he’ll try to text Jongdae tomorrow if he has time. Before Jongdae can process that Chanyeol is seriously leaving, the wolf is walking out the door with his shoes half on and a bag slung over his shoulder.

~

“Chanyeol, I—”

Jongdae catches the door to his studio apartment before it slams closed. Chanyeol turns around with a jolt, not expecting Jongdae to have followed. Chanyeol’s lip is quivering and Jongdae feels his stomach drop.

Looking into Chanyeol’s shining eyes he’s shocked into admitting the truth to himself. Jongdae has fed from live bodies before. While the experience back then was vastly greater than drinking from artificially warmed donations they never made him feel complete like he does today. Chanyeol’s blood doesn’t just call to him— it comforts him. It’s terrifying to say but telling Chanyeol the truth will be the first step to giving instead of taking.

“You taste like endless summer,” Jongdae whispers.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

“Oh. Thank you.” Chanyeol mumbles, looking into the bathroom mirror. “Oh! Thank you! You said! OH! THANK YOU!”

“Yeol please, I’m trying to get ready in here.” Baekhyun interrupts his monologue. “If you feel so strongly about how you responded then maybe you should answer his calls and texts.”

Chanyeol can’t even muster a scowl for Baek. He’s right, after all. There was no reason for him to leave Jongdae’s apartment like that. Giving a measly thanks to one of the more romantic things anyone has ever said to him. His behavior bordered on downright disrespectful. How the vampire managed to say exactly what he wanted to hear must’ve been too much.

“Are you going to keep pouting here or actually get ready to go to the pack social tonight?” Baek asks, “Or, better yet, are you going to take the nap you so clearly need but are fighting? I know you love to overthink everything but there are better things to lose sleep over than a vampire.”

A nap does sound good, and as fun as it is to bond with other wolves on campus over grilled meat he can’t imagine wanting to talk about anything other than Jongdae.

By the time Baekhyun is out the door, Chanyeol is tucked into bed surrounded by items Jongdae has left his scent on over the past few weeks. He almost manages to shut his eyes but a series of quick and sturdy knocks sound at his door. Baek must’ve forgotten his key.

He ambles out of bed and the knocks get louder and more impatient. “Damn, I’m coming. What happened to wanting me to get some sleep?” He opens the door, eyes widening when he sees who’s on the other side. “Sehun? Uh. Baekhyun just left for the pack barbeque. Did he— Hey!”

Sehun pushes past Chanyeol into the room. “I’m not here for Baekhyun” His eyes wander around the room. “It looks different in here. Cleaner.” He spends a moment eyeing the pile on Chanyeol’s bed, “Except for whatever that is.”

Rude. “Please, by all means Sehun, come inside.” Chanyeol rolls his eyes and shuts the door before climbing back into bed. “What do you want?”

Sehun leans against Baek’s bed across from Chanyeol and tilts his head. “Are you feeling okay? Did you get hurt?”

“Did Jongdae send you?” Chanyeol is confused. Why would Jongdae tell Sehun when he’s still bitter over Sehun taking matters into his own hands? Is that what Sehun is doing now? Taking matters into his own hands?

“Jongdae didn’t tell me to do anything. I’m just a concerned friend asking how you’re feeling. Can’t I do that?”

“I guess…” Chanyeol sighs. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Overwhelmed maybe.”

“Do you regret it?”

“As long as he doesn’t.”

“That’s what Jongdae said.” Sehun smirks. “Is that why you won’t answer his calls?”

“His calls? No. Maybe. How do you know about all this anyway? Isn’t he still upset with you?”

Sehun blows his inky bangs out of his eyes. “He shouldn’t be but he won’t drop it. He’s been hogging Junmyeon since you left his apartment asking for advice. It’s taking up time I’m supposed to spend with with Myeonnie so I decided to come to you. I try to do him a favor and speed along his future but instead he whines about how cruel I am. I deserve more credit.”

Chanyeol ignores the last half of Sehun’s complaint. “Advice about what? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sehun give him a look that screams _yeah right_.

“Really, Sehun. It’s fine. He did fine. He’ll be a pro at getting wolf blood in no time.” Chanyeol cringes at how his voice betrays him.

“Is that what this is about? Thinking you’re just a stepping stone?” Sehun raises an eyebrow. “Chanyeol, he’s having a breakdown about how he doesn’t know how he’s going to stomach another person’s blood after tasting you.”

Chanyeol’s gut feels tight. “Is that a compliment? I’m not the only wolf willing to befriend a vampire. I’m certainly not the only one who will let him take a bite. I know he’s worried about the control thing but he stopped within seconds of me telling him to.”Technically Chanyeol didn’t say anything intelligible but Jongdae understood him regardless. Just another testament to his control. “I can reassure him he did great if that’s what he needs, but I don’t know if I could make him reliant on me for blood he could get from others.”

Sehun strokes the side of his face and rests his palm under his jaw. “You must not understand. He hardly blinks at the scent of another wolf now. Haven’t you noticed? His control problem has all but resolved except around you. He probably wouldn’t want me telling you this but he used a potion to make it easier for him to stop feeding from you. I doubt he’d need to use one with someone else.”

Chanyeol tries to remember the last time he saw Jongdae get distracted by another wolf. He can’t even think of the last time he made a comment towards another wolf, including Baek, that could remotely pass as interest. Why can’t he recall anything other than all the times Jongdae has mirrored his movements and stopped to hold his breath around him?

“So what you’re telling me is that he definitely doesn’t need me or my help anymore?”

Sehun facepalms. “You’re purposely being obtuse.”

“_Fuck_ OKAY. Being a good snack doesn’t mean anything though. I don’t know how significant biting is to vampires but i think it’s messing my wolf instincts. The biting just… it means more to me. Paired with how the feeding itself makes me feel in general, I don’t think it’s appropriate for this one time arrangement to continue when it means something different for the both of us.”

The narrowed gaze that Sehun pins him with tells Chanyeol he’s said too much. Sehun is more successful at meddling in others’ lives than Chanyeol is in any of his classes.

“What do you mean how the feeding makes you feel? Is your wolf fighting it? Like a natural reaction to escape or something?” Sehun sounds like he already knows the answer to Chanyeol’s questions, but he gets a response anyway.

“No.” Chanyeol narrows his gaze back at Sehun. “ Other than my veins turning into molten lava, I react how I imagine mortals do. With too much physical interest. Whatever is in vampire venom could be sold to old men with ED. It is a lot more potent than just helping victims relax. Vampires really are the horniest magical species.”

“Chanyeol that’s reserved for… nevermind.” Then Sehun frowns. “Molten lava?”

Chanyeol spent a lot of time thinking about this on his way back to the dorm. The feverish feeling in his body had to have been attributed to his body burning up energy to produce more blood. It makes a lot more sense why he could’ve sworn the heat was emanating from his bones.“I have a theory it’s because of my metabolism going haywire as a means to heal myself.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Sehun stops leaning on Baek’s bed to fully support himself and walk to the door. “Well, if you’re attracted to Jongdae you should just tell him. I’m sure his reaction would be favorable to you.”

Where in the Hell did that come from? “Who said I was attracted to him? Hey! Are you leaving?”

“Duh. I need to go spend time with my own vampire.” Sehun opens the door.

“Wait!” When Sehun turns back, Chanyeol rubs his lips together. “Uhh. If you and Professor Kim are together you shouldn’t get Baek’s hopes up. I don’t want to see him hurt.”

Sehun smirks and taps a finger on his chin in fake thought. “The last thing I want is for my favorite puppy to be hurt. He should know he’s always free to join us.”

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

“Good news~!” Sehun sing-songs into Junmyeon’s home. He struts into view where Junmyeon has his laptop and work spread out at the dining table. Jongdae is seated a chair away from him at the table and has his head face down in his arms.

Jongdae peeks out at the witch and groans. He prays Sehun didn’t go talk to Chanyeol and instead is going to say he found some ancient herbs on sale.

“I talked to Chanyeol~!”

Jongdae groans lounder.

“Myeonnie,” Sehun pulls up a chair next to Junmyeon and puts his chin in his hands. “Haven’t you told Jongdae about the dangers of biting a Caller?”

This causes Junmyeon to jump a bit in his seat at the inquiry then turns to look at Jongdae with accusing eyes. “Jongdae you didn’t tell me Chanyeol’s blood calls to you. I thought you said you just wanted wolf blood.”

Jongdae’s jaw drops. “That’s not something you casually bring into conversation Junmyeon. Besides I did just want wolf blood,” Jongdae starts to mumble, “at least until I met Chanyeol. How was I supposed to know what I was feeling isn’t just another inherent quirk of mine?”

“Quirk?” Junmyeon cradles his head in his hands, rubbing at his temples. “Jongdae did you get so fixated on this soul that you forgot it’s my responsibility as your Sire to help you navigate new feelings like that?”

“Why are you scolding me? Is it that bad that I bit him? ” He pulls out his puppy dog eyes even though he knows they’re powerless against Junmyeon. It’s the thought that counts.

Sehun cuts in to say “Only bad if you didn’t want to pump Chanyeol full of the marking proteins in your saliva. But that’s the good news! He reacted to them so there’s a part of him that reciprocates your fixation! ”

There are a lot of words being spoken but Jongdae suddenly doesn’t have a word to speak. It’s not common he’s left speechless. Junmyeon graciously explains while Jongdae listens.

Chanyeol’s blood calling to him is not as strange of a phenomena as Jongdae thought. Aptly nicknamed _Callers_ among vampires, there are people who have a force that calls to individual vampires because of magical compatibility. Junmyeon related it to soul-mates among witches and imprinting among werewolves. Something beyond their control. Older magic to improve the survival of non-human species. Many vampires wait centuries before they cross paths with their Caller. Most never meet them. Some meet them too early and mistake the Call for extreme hunger, never understanding why they feel so empty after taking the Caller’s life.

Junmyeon speculates Jongdae’s preoccupation with wolves to be an instinct to find Chanyeol, seeing as how no vampire would be seeking their Caller in a species that is generally regarded as an enemy. Occasionally the connection to the Caller is only felt by the vampire; a one-sided bond when the Caller is human or when the other magical being has a bond with one of their own. Junmyeon is happy to tell Jongdae that if Sehun’s hunch is correct then he has lucked out with a reciprocated bond.

The proteins in the saliva Sehun that referenced are specially produced to mark the Caller, signalling to other vampires not to bite them because they’re taken. The surge of the compound entering the bloodstream normally sends positive signals to the Caller’s brain to make them feel safe, but when the caller reciprocates feelings of magical connection the marking substance heightens the feeding experience and often leads to arousal.

This was the biggest news to Jongdae, hearing that his bite not only marked Chanyeol beyond the surface but that it turned him on. Not to mention Chanyeol got embarrassed enough to tell Jongdae to take his time leaving him alone while he recovered. Vampires confirmed horniest magical species.

He almost feels giddy knowing that he didn’t fuck up the feeding and didn’t hurt Yeol.

“And to think I was blaming the fact that Chanyeol is a werewolf for why his blood made me feel territorial.” He muses.

“TMI,” Junmyeon mumbles.

“Using 21st century language are we? What happened to you telling me off for not sharing all my feelings with you?” Jongdae teases.

“Yeah yeah. You should probably be figuring out how to tell Chanyeol about this instead of pestering me. His blood won’t quiet down any time soon and the longer you spend apart the more both of you will needlessly suffer.”

Jongdae gives a “hmph” and pulls out his phone to send another text, but instead of contacting Chanyeol directly and getting silence in reply, he messages Baekhyun to set up a time he can come over to visit both of them tomorrow.

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

Jongdae is waiting outside Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s shared dorm, arm poised to knock, but Baekhyun beats him to it. His red hair goes by in a flash as he switches their positions so Baekhyun is the one outside dorm and Jongdae is inside.

“You’re here just in time! Keep him company, will ya? I’ve got a date with someone, well, a couple someones. Bye bye!” Baekhyun sing-songs away from the door.

Jongdae is at Chanyeol’s desk as soon as the door is shut and he drops to his knees beside the chair Chanyeol is seated in. It all happens so fast that Chanyeol doesn’t have time to react before Jongdae starts to delve into an explanation he never asked for, but didn’t know he needed.

Chanyeol’s face gradually colors so red that it could put Baek’s hair to shame. The explanation evolves into a confession and he can’t run away from the feelings this time. Well, he could, but he’d just be going to his bed to bury himself in the scent that is concentrated on the man kneeling before him.

“Sorry I’ve basically marked you and inadvertently set a claim on your blood. I can ask Junmyeon and Sehun if there’s a way to undo it if you want—”

“I don’t want!” Chanyeol practically shouts and apologizes for the outburst. He repeats himself in a calmer tone, “I don’t want it undone. I don’t mind considering I’ve already been scent marking you for weeks.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I kinda had an irrational fear that you’d find another wolf and I wanted to make sure other werewolves would know you already have me. All those times I pretended to fix your perfect hair and remove fuzz from your pristine clothes and bump into you when I knew exactly where I was going… just excuses to touch you. Sorry.”

Jongdae is at a loss for words. He feels warm even though he knows that’s not physically possible for someone like him. Words do not find him as long as he’s looking at Chanyeol so he lets his eyes drift off to the side where they focus on Chanyeol’s bed. “Then we’re even… or maybe that just means I have some catching up to do.” Jongdae realizes it’s been a while since he was last in this room and he veers off topic. “Yeol, why is there so much stuff on your bed?”

Chanyeol’s body whips so fast in the direction of the bed that it creates a soft whooshing sound. “UH.” He stands and walks over to the bed to push everything against the wall before tossing a blanket over the pile. “It’s not important!”

But Jongdae is already by his side pullings the blanket away from the pile. “I recognize some of these shirts! I thought you said you lost my copy of Frankenstein—”

Chanyeol yanks the blanket back over the pile and quickly climbs on the bed to sit against it. “Not! Important!” Chanyeol’s bottom lip is pushed out and his eyes shine under furrowed eyebrows. Jongdae’s not sure if Chanyeol is trying to look menacing or cute.

“Hey.” Jongdae kneels again to lean his torso against the bed, and rests his arms on the bedspread so he can lay his head on his arms. He looks up at Chanyeol’s pouty face. “I’m not judging you. I just don’t know much about wolf habits.”

“It’s embarrassing is all,” Chanyeol feebly grouses, “It’s stuff that reminds me of you. Stuff that smells like you.”

Jongdae’s eyes go wide. “I definitely can't judge you when I go haywire over how you smell. I didn’t even consider I’d have a distinguishable smell.”

Chanyeol’s face softens and he leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees and put his chin in his hands. “I bet you have a distinguishable taste too. I wonder if they’d match.”

Jongdae huffs out a laugh. “I might not be familiar with wolf culture but I’m pretty sure you don’t drink blood. Unless?”

Chanyeol’s lids lower and his lips pull into a smirk like he’s got a secret.

“Nah, you’re right, I don’t. I’m more of a fan of biting.” He tilts his head to the side. “Licking. The works.”

Jongdae suppresses a shudder. “The works?”

“You’ve said it yourself. Wolves are territorial. The only thing better than getting marks, is giving them.” Chanyeol shrugs as best as he can in his position. “It shouldn’t be a surprise that we’re creative when it comes to leaving our mark.”

Jongdae can’t stop the small gasp that escapes him. With the gasp comes air charged with heat and the voice in the back of his mind that’s been telling him to give and give and give since he showed up gains a friend telling him to take in more of the scent until he drowns in it. He should start making a pile of Chanyeol things on his bed. The Call is clear to him— he _needs_ Chanyeol. The blood is just a bonus.

His chest shakes and his throat is dry when he says “Is now a good time to tell you that you no longer need excuses to touch me?”

Chanyeol tugs Jongdae up to press their foreheads together. His breath is hot when he whispers.

“Let’s find out what flavor _you _are, Kim Jongdae.”

\- ᵒ̌ ᴥ ᵒ̌-人•̀ᵥᵥ •́ ୨

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the title. I will reflect.
> 
> Thank you for making it to the end! I'm writing more of this au so maybe it's not the end after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Bitey time in the next chapter (*ᵥᵥ*)


End file.
